A Dreamer's Heart
by Gemkat5
Summary: Sarah chose loneliness over disappointment while her heart dreams of true love to find her. Jareth has a blonde moment and is mortally wounded, ending up at Sarah’s doorstep. Can she save him? If so, can she save her dreamer’s heart before it’s too late?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The only thing I claim to own is the insane idea that formed this story. Everything else is borrowed… except the ottoman that Sarah trips over. No, wait… I borrowed that too. Damn.

Summary: Sarah chose loneliness over disappointment while her heart dreams of true love to find her. Jareth has a blonde moment and is mortally wounded, ending up at Sarah's doorstep. Can she save him? If so, can she save her dreamer's heart before it's too late?

A Dreamer's Heart

Sarah dabbed at the moister under one eye, sniffling as she closed the romance novel. "God, I love happy endings," she murmured to herself, grabbing a tissue to blow her nose. Rising from her chair, she placed the book on the shelf in the vacant slot next to all the other romance novels she had read, running her fingertips longingly along the colorful bindings along the shelf.

Sometime during her high school days Sarah had traded in her fanciful dreams of castles and princesses for alluring men with mystical eyes, lean muscled bodies, wind blown hair, and the ability to take the heroin's breath away with a single glance.

She was an avid subscriber to the top romance publishers, automatically receiving the latest release via special delivery. Having become addicted to this particular genre, she adeptly read an entire book within a single night, always yearning for the fateful meeting, the stubborn denial, the ever present yearning, and of course the happy ending.

She walked away from the bookshelf feeling a heavy weight upon her lonely heart, as she always did after reading a good story. Her own existence had never quite fulfilled her dreams, no matter what those dreams had been. Her acting career had fallen flat. Her attempt as a novelist failed miserably. Her two marriages had left her wanting and unhappy, leading to quick divorces.

She had gradually become more and more recluse over the years, not wanting to risk meeting someone for fear that he wouldn't be the one she longed for in her heart. Yet, she grew tired of being alone, having no one to share anything with. But that wasn't entirely true either. She had a few friends in the small town several miles from where she lived.

They were good people who, after she had lived in her rustic cabin house for a few years, had finally accepted her, and included her in everything. From weddings to funerals, birthdays and graduations, to the annual cook out where everyone brought something to eat, and if you left hungry it was nobody's fault but your own.

She smiled wistfully, glancing at her reflection in the mirror. She was thirty-seven years old now, and still got away with passing for twenty-eight. But that didn't soothe the burning in her heart, that feeling that 'Mr. Right' was out there somewhere looking for her, suffering the same yearning feeling that she constantly tried to ignore.

"So, what did you do, Sarah?" she asked her mirror self cynically. "You moved to an isolated area where nobody could find you. You locked yourself away with that stupid idea that 'if he was really looking for you, he'd find you, no matter what!'" She sighed sadly, glancing away from her reflection. "You've filled your heart with such high romantic notions that no mortal man could possible live up to your expectations."

She pushed away from her bureau with dramatic flare. "Well," she announced with optimism to an empty room, spinning with her arms wide. "That's what they make movies and books for!" she reassured herself, soothing her laden heart for the time being.

With a lightness to her step, she made her way down the hallway, through the living room, and finally entered the kitchen. With a happy tune whistling from her lips, she pulled out a frying pan to make herself a little snack before going to bed, and a BLT was what her palette desired, so a BLT it was going be.

She was flipping the bacon when she thought she heard a faint thumping noise coming from the outer back door. Frowning, she strained her hearing to listen closer, then shrugged at not hearing anything. Whistling once more, she thought she heard the sound again, and became quiet once more.

Lead by curiosity, she placed the frying pan on the back burner and cautiously stepped towards the enclosed porch with the outer back door. "Is someone there?" she asked, just loud enough to be heard from nearby. She heard shuffling noises in the dried leaves just on the other side of the thin framed screen door.

Without fear, Sarah squared her shoulders and quickened her pace towards the door. "Buster, is that you?" she called fondly with a smile on her lips, referring to her neighbor's hound dog that always got loose. "Did you smell the bacon, boy?" she asked pleasantly. She opened the half screened door expecting to see the brown and black dog wagging his tail, and looking up at her expectantly. But it wasn't a hound dog she found looking up at her as she opened her door.

Her pleasant smile fell from her face at the sight of frightful, yet familiar, little faces that stared up at her from the darkness outside. She gasped harshly and pulled her door closed quickly. "Shoo!" she yelled, able to see them through the screen in the top half of the thin wooden door. "Go on, git!" she added, flapping her hands in shooing motions.

"Lady help King?"

Sarah staggered backwards at the sound of a voice, of coherent words being spoken to her! She stumbled, tripping over her ottoman in front of her wooden chair. She reached out a hand to grab the arm, but ended up on her ass anyway. "Go away!" she yelled, her voice full of fear, and something else from deep within her mind that she had locked away long ago. She scurried backwards on her ass, hands, and feet to reach the solid back door of her house.

"Lady help King?"

"No! Go away!" she screamed, her voice full of terror as she scrambled to her feet to run through the doorway.

"King will die! Lady must help King!" a different voice pleaded.

"No!" she whimpered, slamming the inside door with a resounding bang. She slammed the bolt lock into place so hard that she pinched the palm of her hand, but didn't feel it as she sunk to the floor with her back securely against the solid door.

"This isn't happening," she murmured to herself. "They're just raccoons, yea, raccoons scrounging for bits." She almost had herself convinced until she heard the soft thumping on the outer door again.

"Lady help King," the first voice pleaded insistently. "King let Lady go home with baby."

"King is hurt," a second voice stated. "King will die if Lady not help."

"Go back where you came from!" she screamed hysterically. "Leave me alone!" She pulled her knees up to her chest, her heart pounded painfully against her ribs, her throat felt raw and dry, her face wet with tears as she hugged herself tightly.

"We have no magic left," the first voice told her. "Magic brought us to Lady."

"Why won't Lady help King?" the second voice asked, sounding desperate and confused. "King won't hurt Lady," the voice continued, sounding bereft. "King helped Lady to go home." There was a moment's pause. "Lady?"

"It's no good," the first voice stated remorsefully. "She don't care. She'll let him die."

Through her own fears, her own tears, Sarah heard the hopelessness in that voice. She actually '_felt_' the grief that filled the air when they became quiet. She closed her eyes, breathing through her mouth to avoid sniffling, and knew what she had to do, what her conscience would make her do.

"Wait," she whispered, her voice barely breaking the silence. "Don't go. I'll help."

She rose to stand on leaden feet, noticing her cut for the first time as she unlocked the inner door. Ignoring the tinge of pain that she hadn't felt a moment before, she stepped out onto the porch, feeling her way along the wall as though blind, even though the light from the kitchen more than amply lit her way.

"Where is he?" she asked, despite the cold feeling of dread that filled her very soul. The five round faced goblins turned at the same time to face the darkness, one of them pointed with a small hand.

"King is over there." He pointed into the darkness, then looked back at Sarah with hopeful eyes. "Lady will help King?"

She nodded, feeling like a puppet on strings as she opened the half screened door. She stepped down the wooden steps, searching the night for the King these creatures spoke of. She was about to give up and run back inside when the glint of something shiny caught her eye as it reflected the light from the house.

As she moved closer she could make out the prone form lying on the ground amidst a pile of leaves. Reaching his side she took in his unconscious state; his armor still donned his upper body, though his black attire was ripped and shredded from his arms and legs, and all the blood that covered bite marks and lacerations within his flesh on his limbs.

"What happened to him?" Sarah whispered as fresh tears formed in her eyes at seeing such a majestic being lying so inert and defenseless.

"We don't know," the first goblin answered. "We got a summons for help, and found him like this. Magic brought us to Lady, not home."

"Help me get him inside," she stated, her voice stronger with resolve.

"We have no magic," the goblin insisted. "King is too big."

"Then we move him the old fashioned way." She stood up and positioned herself at his shoulders, placing her hands under his arms. "You two," she commanded firmly, pointedly looking at the two in question. "Take hold of his leg. You two, take hold of his other leg. And you," she directed at the last goblin. "You open the door for us to get inside."

XxXxX

"This isn't right," Sarah mused under her breath, gently removing his clothes and armor to tend his wounds. The first goblin stepped closer with curiosity at her words. "He has wounds 'under' his armor," she stated with confusion. "These are puncture wounds, bite marks, on his foot, yet his boots weren't even scratched." Her eyes lit with sudden realization, her mind bringing forth everything she could remember about the King of Goblins. "He was flying," she surmised with finality. "He was an owl when this happened!"

"Out!" she commanded the goblin, rising to her feet with purpose. The other goblins were already sleeping in the other room, exhausted both physically and magically from helping their King. "Go sleep with your brothers, I don't need you hovering over me."

"Dink defend the King!" the goblin stated, puffing out his chest defensively and raising his little axe.

"You defend the King from the other room. I'll try to save his life in here!" Sarah stated authoritatively, pointing out of her bedroom.

Dink glanced at his King with worried eyes, but stepped back out of the room to do the Lady's bidding. "Lady will help the King?" he asked heartfelt.

"I'll try."

As soon as she closed the door, she proceeded to remove the rest of his clothes, thinking how ironic it was that this was almost exactly the same scenario from the book she had just finished reading. Only she knew by the look of his wounds that she didn't have time to feel shy or embarrassed about stripping him down to nothing.

Once his clothes, boots, and armor were piled haphazardly on the floor, she covered his mid-section with a soft, clean sheet, feeling a flush in her cheeks despite her resolve. The sheet did nothing to mask his attributes, any more than his tight leather pants had. Forcing herself to focus on the task at hand, she rushed to her private bathroom, and filled the sink with warm water. She grabbed clean towels, a first aide kit, and returned to her bed to dump everything in the center of the mattress near his waist. Taking a washcloth from the pile, she went to soak it in the sink filled with warm water, wrung it out, then returned to his side.

She carefully removed his medallion from around his neck and placed it on the nightstand next to her bed, then began her administrations by checking his head for signs of trauma. Despite two nasty bite marks on his limbs; one on his calf, the other on his foot, and a deep laceration on his back, she couldn't find what had caused him to be unconscious.

"He couldn't have lost that much blood, could he?" she questioned aloud. Going over to his pile of clothes, she checked them again, but didn't find enough blood to satisfy her question. "Goblin!" she called, not surprised when the leader was suddenly standing before her, having magically transported himself into the room.

"What would happen to him if he was attacked as an owl?" she asked with urgency.

"I don't know," he answered, darting his wide eyes around the room fretfully.

"Would he bleed a lot? Would he change back to… King," she pointed at Jareth's form on her bed for emphasis. "If he was injured as an owl?"

"I don't know," the goblin answered insistently, becoming upset with helplessness.

"It's okay," she told the creature in a calmer voice, realizing that she was upsetting the little creature even more. She nodded her head affirmatively. "I think that's what happened. Whatever attacked him had to be big, like a mountain lion or a wolf... or a hunting dog," she added under her breath. She looked at the goblin, empathy showing in her eyes for the first time. "He's still breathing, that's a good sign," she reassured him. "I'll finish tending his wounds, and then I'll call you to come back in. For now, you go rest with the others."

The goblin left without any complaints, obviously too upset to even speak at the sight of his King helpless and bleeding. Sarah returned to the side of her bed and began the diligent task of cleansing his wounds one at a time, bandaging the deeper ones after adding ointment.

XxXxX

Sarah had become lost in a timeless void as she gently tended to Jareth. Humming a nameless tune softly to herself, she leisurely wiped the dried blood from around his cleaned wounds, then proceeded to clean the rest of him as well. She gently caressed the mildly soaped cloth over his skin, admiring the subtle muscle tone of his lean form, the softness of his skin, the silkiness of his hair. Dreamily, she gave birth to romantic notions, allowing her fascination of him to become as real as he was.

Finally satisfied that she had been thorough with her administrations, she collected the remaining medical supplies from the bed and placed them on the nightstand. She tiredly strolled to the kitchen to retrieve a bowl, finding all five goblins curled up together in her chair in the den, fast asleep. Returning from the kitchen, she half filled the bowl with fresh warm water, and seated herself on a bent leg at the edge of her bed.

Dipping a small washrag into the warm water, she wrung it out tightly, and took a lock of his long hair to wipe the dried blood from it. She had expected to find glitter, or at least some sort of magical particles, in his hair and was oddly disappointed when it simply seemed… normal. Somehow she had remembered him being glittery, glowing, sparkling, and powerful. But he wasn't any of those things as he lay unconscious. She concluded that that must be why, that he was simply too wounded to be extraordinary.

She placed the cleaned lock of hair to the side, and reached for another. She couldn't believe this was real, that he had been real to begin with. Somewhere in the sands of time, she had convinced herself that it had just been a dream, and nothing more. He was beautiful, though, at least she remembered that part right.

She dipped the rag into the bowl, ignoring how the water turned pinkish when mixed with his dried blood. She caught sight of a very small scratch at the back of his neck under his hairline. She wiped the dried blood from the small cut, smiling wistfully as it healed right before her eyes. '_Seems he's extraordinary after all_,' she thought, taking hold of the next lock of hair to wipe it clean.

XxXxX

It was early afternoon and the sun shone brightly through the open windows of Sarah's spacious bedroom. The goblins had returned home after resting and regaining their magic, though they returned often, and unexpectedly, to safeguard their King. They understood that the Goblin King could not be transported, and that Sarah was helping to the best of her ability.

Jareth had been in her house for almost three days. Sarah had managed to get him to drink small amounts of broth, if not some water, though he otherwise remained prone and unconscious. She diligently cleansed his wounds, amazed every time she checked a smaller scratch or cut only to find it completely healed. But the three deeper wounds still concerned her.

She had him positioned on his stomach with his head facing the windows. It was easier to cleanse his back, and she figured it would hurt less to not have any pressure on the frightful laceration. It ran diagonally half the length of his strong, subtly muscled back. Starting over his right shoulder, the obvious claw mark tapered off just shy of his ribs on the left side near his waist.

She softly hummed as she carefully removed the old bandages, using a warm, wet hand towel to soak the pieces of gauze that had become stuck to the seeping wound. She had already run out of sterile padding and gauze twice, and had shamelessly told the goblins to go find more, showing them what the box looked like. She never asked where they got the replacements they had returned with.

She often found herself smiling wistfully, thinking again and again, how the situation reminded her of a romance novel. Only to remind herself of how this entire situation was far from a fanciful romance. He was the Goblin King, a magical being powerful enough to change time itself, to see through to her very soul, and capable of being as cruel as he was captivatingly beautiful.

Despite the raw and jagged wound that she took great care with, Sarah couldn't help notice how perfect the rest of his back was. His muscles were subtle yet perfectly defined, his skin was so soft and smooth, that she couldn't resist caressing the unmarred skin with her fingertips while applying her administrations.

Jareth slowly became aware of white pain seemingly centered in his back, though his leg and foot gave him notice as well. Groggily, he came out of the depths of nothingness, immediately sensing sunlight surrounding him, and a gentle touch upon the unmarred flesh of his back. He frowned inwardly long before he dared to open his eyes. The last thing he remembered was hearing a low growl and then blinding pain as a sharp claw knocked him out of the tree he'd been perched in. He had never been so careless in his entire life as to not sense a predator lying so close to where he had landed.

But he hadn't been thinking clearly at the time, if he were to make any excuse, which he wouldn't. He had tried to lure another female to remain with him, though she hadn't even reached the goblin city, and offered to return her sister home if she willingly stayed with him. Jareth had been appalled at the language the young woman had thrown at him, not to mention the hurt of being rejected, yet again. He had kept the child, and sent the irate foul mouthed female on her way.

After tending to the babe, and making certain she was cared for by a willing couple, he had flown through the portal with no particular destination in mind. He couldn't understand why no female would accept him. He was handsome, a king, and he asked for so little in return. So, why? That's about where his thoughts had been when he had suddenly found himself airborne with a thick gash down his feathered back.

He winced physically, holding his breath against the white flashes of pain behind his eyes. He sensed that whomever had found him was trying to be gentle, but the wound was angry, and it would take a long while for it to heal completely, even after he regained his magic. That was the catalyst that made him open his eyes. His magic. He felt it coursing throughout his being, but it felt strained, and exhausted.

'_Surely I hadn't been wounded that badly?_' he wondered silently. Vague images of sharp teeth and deadly claws taking hold of him flashed in his mind, of flapping his wings while screeching in pain, while being drug back down to the ground. '_Perhaps I was._'

He blinked in quick succession, otherwise remaining as still as possible, and focused his vision to gaze upon his surroundings. Surroundings that were alien to him, and not his castle chambers as he had expected. '_Oh, bother,_' he thought resigned, a sinking feeling of dread settling in his gut.

Sarah knew the moment he had gained consciousness, though he tried to remain still. The wound on his back was too much for him to not bear down and clench his jaw, hold his breath, and tense his muscles as she cleaned the gook out of it and re-bandage it with fresh ointment. She continued her administrations quietly, being extra gentle knowing that he could feel every touch now.

She almost wished he would just pass out again, but that wasn't fair either. He needed to eat, if nothing else, and he needed to meet his goblins, who worried adamantly on his behalf. She knew she had to break the silence when he suddenly tensed completely, his hand making a fist by his side.

"It's okay. You're safe," she told him in a calm voice, biting at her lip when he visibly jerked at hearing her voice. "Goblin!" she called, just loud enough that he would hear her, then sighed with relief when Dink immediately appeared next to her by the side of the bed.

"KING!" the goblin exclaimed excitedly, looking as though he would explode with joy as he jumped and jittered in place. "King is all better!"

"Not quite," Jareth replied, his voice groggy from non use. "Who tends my wounds?" he inquired weakly.

"Lady helped King!" Dink replied happily, still bouncing up and down, and looked up at Sarah with pure happiness.

"What, Lady?" he asked precisely, pronouncing each word separately, though he already knew of whom his subject spoke of. She would be the only one in the Aboveground that his magic, or any remnant of it, would take him to if he became injured beyond his own capacity.

"The Lady King let go home with baby," Dink replied, ceasing his physical bouncing while being confused that his king wouldn't already know that.

Jareth let his eyes slip closed with a resigned sigh, realizing that he had been injured so severely that he had most likely appeared at her feet. He wanted to pretend not remembering her, just to avoid a confrontation, but he was too weak to successfully deceive her, and he knew it.

"Let me rest," he commanded tiredly, his eyes remaining closed as he breathed deeply. Just before sleep overtook him, he heard her command Dink to leave the room in a hushed voice, then felt the gentlest touch at the side of his face.

"Welcome back, Goblin King," she whispered, caressing his temple and cheek, then smoothed his hair from his face. "I just hope you're not as cruel as I remember you."

XxXxX

"How long have I been here?" he asked quietly, letting her know that he was coherent as she tended his back once again. She seemed to have a regiment, cleansing his wounds at least twice daily, and checking the one on his back more often than that. It seemed to give her great concern more so than the other wounds, and by the feel of it, she should be concerned. It hurt like hell.

Sarah knew that he was awake, that he was just resting with his eyes closed, yet she jumped slightly at hearing his voice anyway. The deep timbre of it from him not speaking frequently sent a chill through her that ended up becoming a warm flush to her insides.

"Five days," she answered simply, and continued her administrations.

"I don't feel as hungry as I should," Jareth commented casually "How were you able to give me sustenance while I was unconscious?"

"I fed you chicken broth," she answered. "It was the only thing I could get you to swallow reflexively."

"You've been very attentive to my needs," he remarked simply, his voice starting to return to its normal timbre.

'_You have no idea_,' she thought inwardly, feeling embarrassed at the extent she had to tend to him while he was unconscious.

"Your touch is gentle, considering," he commented.

"Considering what?" she asked, almost holding her breath as her hand paused over the bandage she was applying to his wound.

"Considering the last time we met."

"That was a long time ago," she remarked dismissively, continuing with her task. "I doubt I would have been this gentle with you back then, though."

"No, I don't suppose you would have," he agreed, comforted with the thought that she was being so amicable. "I will repay your generosity when I'm healed," he informed her decisively.

She placed a small piece of first aide tape over the edge of the bandage, using her thumb to adhere it to his skin. A warmth seeped into her hand from the contact. Entranced, she slowly caressed his smooth skin with her thumb, her fingers trailing along his side. She was completely enthralled by the feel of muscle that subtly outlined his back.

Her touch awakened something within him that had lain dormant for most of his life. The desire to be wanted, needed, that had nothing to do with his power or title. He felt her desire to touch him, to explore every muscle, under her fingertips. He closed his eyes, reveling at the feeling of her touch, as her thumb made tiny circular patterns over certain areas of his back.

He moaned deeply in his throat, snapping her back to reality. She withdrew her hand from him immediately and gathered the supplies from the bed. "You should rest," she suggested in a soft tone, leaving his side to put the kit on the nightstand. "You're going to have a horde of goblins popping in here soon enough. They're very anxious to have your attention."

'_Apparently, so are you_,' he thought, a pleasantness entering his heart as he let sleep overtake him.


	2. Chapter 2

A Dreamer's Heart ~ Chapter Two

Sarah was warming up some soup for Jareth when she heard low growling and hissing noises coming from the living room. Approaching the doorway she saw three goblins lined up side by side with weapons at the ready in a defensive stance. She was about to question them about their behavior when the sound of a delivery truck rumbling up her driveway came to her ears.

"Goblins!" She hissed authoritively. "No! Don't you dare attack!"

"We defend the King!" Dink exclaimed, holding his axe at the ready, the other two assuming the same stance.

"Goblins!" she repeated, putting more authority in her voice. "I said, no!" She strode into the room and pulled the axe from Dink's little hands. "Go in there with your King!" she commanded, pointing in the direction of her bedroom. "And don't come out unless I say so!" She heard the door of the truck slide open, then footfalls in the dry leaves outside. "Goblins, go now!" she reiterated forcibly. Finally, they scurried into her bedroom just as the bell rang at the front door.

"Hi, Jerry," Sarah greeted pleasantly, hiding the little axe behind the door as she opened it..

"Afternoon, Sarah," he replied with a pleasant smile, handing her a clip board for her to sign for her package. "Bet you been expectin this, heh?" he asked teasingly, waving the new book in front of her face tauntingly. His smile was suddenly replaced with a frown as the sound of growling filtered out from the other room. "You get yourself a dog?"

"Nah," Sarah replied nonplused, handing him back his clipboard, while taking her new book. "I found a stray the other night, and you know me," She shrugged with a chuckle. "Always the sucker for letting things in the house. I figure he probably belongs to a camper up on the peak. You haven't heard anything have you?"

"No, not at all," Jerry replied, scratching his balding head thoughtfully. "Fact, I don't think there is anyone out there right now. But I'll ask around during my deliveries, and see if we can find the owners. What's he look like?"

"Looks like?" Sarah repeated, not prepared for that question. "Uhm… a husky. With two different eyes, and uhm… gray and white fur. Almost looks like a wolf, except for the eyes, and he seems to be house trained."

"Oh, he's a big one, then," Jerry remarked with wariness. "You might want to keep this one outside, Sarah," Jerry told her in a stage whisper. "They found the remains of a cougar over on the other side of Gallow's Pass bout five days ago. They said it looked like wolves ripped it to pieces, but they ain't certain. There was a bunch of white owl feathers scattered around too. Your stray might not be as house trained as you think."

"Shit," Sarah whispered, not pretending to be overwhelmed by the news. '_Goblins really can be vicious._' She thought, then aloud said, "Yea, I'll tie him outside after you leave. Thanks, Jerry."

"No problem," he smiled, nodding his head politely. "I'll have Stella check in on you, let you know if we hear anything else. So, you make sure you got your phone plugged in, K?"

"Okay, Jerry, I will," she replied pleasantly as he turned to make his way back to his delivery truck.

Sarah closed the door and turned to face the living room, the hardbound book firmly in both hands. She stared blankly at the thick paper wrapped text. About five days ago she would've been ecstatic at having a new novel to read. She would've unplugged her phone, changed into her robe and slippers, made some tea, and settled down in her favorite chair in the den to read the romance from cover to cover.

But now, she sighed deeply as she glanced wistfully towards her bedroom, she was in the middle of an adventure of her own. Taken right out of the pages of fiction. Only there was no romance in her adventure. She bowed her head, biting the inside of her bottom lip as she fought that familiar hollow feeling that swelled within her. It seemed as though fate had skipped her completely when it came to her heart. She was always the friend, sometimes the lover, but never truly wanted or loved.

With a waking breath she snapped out of her reverie and crossed the room to place her book on the end table. Heading back to the kitchen she glanced once more towards her bedroom, an inner spark of… hope, tried to jump to the surface. She shook the feeling off as lonely wishful thinking, and resumed her task of preparing Jareth some soup.

Five goblins sat quietly on the floor in the bedroom, gazing mournfully through the open doorway. Even though they couldn't see the Lady from this room, they all felt her sadness.

"Why is the lady so sad?" Dink asked quietly. He'd felt her sadness before, while she tended the king's wounds, but she always pretended to be happy whenever she let him in to visit, even more so since the king woke up.

"Because she has no magic in her life," Jareth replied cryptically, having a hard time separating his own feelings from hers when she let her emotions surface for small amounts of time.

"Ohhh," the goblins sing sung as one voice, though none of them really understood what their king meant.

"But, the Lady is mortal," Dink observed. "She doesn't have magic to be sad about not having any."

"That's not the kind of magic she longs for."

"Lady longs for touchy touchy with King!" Dink stated with a jagged toothed smile, the others laughed in agreement. "She always happy when…"

Jareth raised himself up on an elbow, frowning at the strain it caused his body, and pointed at his goblins. "Remember your King, and hold your tongues!"

The room fell silent just as Sarah entered with a tray and two steaming bowls of soup, a glass of juice, and buttered toast. "Goblins, out," she announced with casual firmness, not questioning what Jareth was yelling at them about. The room cleared as they scurried through the doorway.

"They admire you," Jareth pointed out, ignoring how his supporting arm shook under his weight.

"They tolerate me," Sarah countered, placing the tray on top of a small cabinet at the foot of her bed.

"I've never known them to follow commands from anyone but me," he remarked, allowing her to fix pillows under and around him so he could sit upright more comfortably.

"Yea, well, this is my castle, and you have no idea what they went through just to get in the door."

"I heard you ran screaming." He grinned up at her as she leaned over him, struggling to fix the pillow at his back so that it didn't press against his wound.

"I did," she admitted bluntly, meeting his gaze pointedly. "That's when the battle really started. They had to convince me to open the door, and they succeeded, as you can attest."

"You resent what had happened to you so long ago," he stated matter of factly, using the hint of bitterness in her tone as his reasoning.

She snorted. "It was a mistake, Jareth," she remarked curtly, resuming her attention with the overly soft pillow. "Just one of many mistakes I've made over the years of my life." Finally satisfied that the pillow wouldn't press against his wound too much, she moved to get him his soup.

Her use of his given name did not go unnoticed. She usually avoided addressing him at all, and when she did it would be by his title and nothing more. He wondered if he should allow himself to think on such trivial things as she placed a bowl of soup upon his lap, along with another pillow to rest it on.

"You speak as though your life is ended," he stated cautiously, slowly twirling a spoon around in the steaming bowl.

"It might as well be," she remarked before thinking, paused in her movements, then continued to place the juice on the bedside nightstand. "If you don't need anything else for a while, I'd like to take a bath while you eat. Sleeping on the couch isn't agreeing with my back at all."

"I have my goblins if I require anything," he quipped haughtily, then sipped at some broth from the spoon.

She nodded, grabbed some clean clothes, then stepped from the room.

Jareth turned his gaze towards the hallway, watching her shadow disappear down the other end. He heard the soft click of a door being closed, then the sound of running water. Returning his gaze to his soup he let his mind wander freely.

He had the very vague image of her kissing him in his mind, it nagged at him incessantly, especially after Dink's comment about her being happy while touching him. '_What, exactly, had she done while I lay unconscious?_' He put the spoon down and raised his hand, pointedly staring at his fingertips.

'_I shouldn't,_' he told himself. '_I can't,_' he reiterated, lowering his hand. '_I am not strong enough to stand as much as make a crystal._' But his curiosity got the better of him. He had to know. He had to see for himself. Drawing in a few deep breaths he raised his hand and channeled his meager amount of magic to form a crystal, then stared in amazement at the lengths she had gone to save his life.

"_Please, Jareth," she was begging him with a cup of broth in one hand and a spoon in the other. "You have to eat something, drink at least." _She was crying, her legs straddled his waist harmless to his injuries, which he noticed through the orb, were more plentiful at that time._ "Come on, you have to have some instinct to survive! Swallow it, dammit!"_

_She climbed off of him in frustration as he had lain prone the entire time. She paced her room like a caged animal, fretting, planning, trying to think of what to do. "Goblin!" Dink had appeared without hesitation, ready to do Sarah's bidding no matter what she asked of him. _

Jareth watched with mild surprise at the expression on his goblin's face, an expression he had never seen before. Grief.

"_How the hell do you get him to do anything?" she ranted at the little goblin._

"_We don't make the King do anything," he answered, completely appalled at her question. "The King makes us do things!"_

"_Goblin, leave," she commanded him after a moment._

"_But Lady called..."_

"_And now I'm telling you to leave!" she yelled, rounding on his poor faithful servant. "Out!" she yelled, pointing to the closed door._

"_Lady just like King. Never make up your mind!" Dink had accused defiantly just before vanishing from sight._

"_I'm nothing like him!" she had yelled in turn, stalking to the bed. The fire in her demeanor subsided as she gazed upon his prone figure. "Dammit, Jareth, you have to eat. It's almost been three days." New tears streaked her face as she touched her forehead upon his. "Please, wake up," she whispered softly, her lips were so close to his, though she hadn't been aware. But he had, even in the darkness of unconsciousness, he had sensed her closeness and lifted his face to touch her lips with his._

_She had pulled her head back in surprise, her eyes shone of hope and fear simultaneously. "Goblin King?" A tear had fallen from her jaw to land near his lips. She gently wiped it away with a fingertip. He had opened his mouth and drew in a deep breath at her touch, and that was when her eyes darkened with determination._

_She looked over at the cup of broth, then back at his half parted lips. "You'd kill me for sure for this," she whispered. "But you have to get something in your stomach." She glanced at the mug once more, working her bottom lip between her teeth indecisively. Then her eyes set with resolve, that age old familiar look that she gets in her eyes when she is determined, that inner cruelty that has no boundaries, and no rules._

_She reached over and took hold of the cup then leaned over him, she hesitated more than once before placing her lips over his, gasping softly when he had responded to her. She pulled back, and placed the cup at his lips, tilting it to pour a tiny bit of liquid into his mouth. After watching him swallow the little bit that had went to the back of his throat, she repeated her actions, kissing him for his lips to part, then poured more broth in his mouth._

_Soon she didn't have to tease his senses with kisses to get him to open his mouth, and was able to simply place the cup at his lips. He reflexively swallowed more and more of the broth, until the cup was empty._

Jareth closed his eyes, his hand fell limply off the side of the bed, the crystal rolling onto the floor well out of his reach. He swallowed hard as a wave of dizziness overcame him. He'd used too much energy and completely exhausted himself. But was satisfied that his curiosity had been sated. Allowing himself to be pulled down into the spiral of darkness, a small smile curled at his lips. He wondered if she realized that it was her attentions towards him that had awoken him, and not the consumption of broth. But now he knew, and he understood Sarah Williams all the more for it.

XxXxX

"Oh my god," Sarah exclaimed as soon as she entered the room and found him slumped over unconscious. "Jareth!" she called to him, easing his body to lay flat as she had positioned him before. "Goblin!" she yelled, her voice full of panic. Dink appeared from thin air, even though he had only been in the den down the hallway. "What happened to him? Why is he unconscious again?"

"I don't know!" Dink replied, instantly fearful for his king's life once more. "What did you feed him?"

"It's chicken broth, that's it! He didn't even touch much of it," Sarah looked around frantically for some clue as to what happened when her eye lit on the crystal lying on the floor. "Goblin, can you make crystals?"

"Goblins can't make crystals. Only the King can make crystals." Sarah walked on leaden feet and picked the crystal up from the floor. "Oh, that's bad," Dink stated. "King is not strong enough to make crystals."

"He exhausted himself to see something in a crystal?" Sarah wondered aloud, watching the scene within the orb repeat itself. "Oh no," she whispered, realizing that he now knew what she had done to get him to drink the broth. "Dammit, I shouldn't have left him alone." She turned to face the goblin. "Will this keep using his magic?" she asked, holding the clear ball in front of the goblin's face.

"I don't know. I think, yes. King always makes them go away when he's done using them."

"How do we get rid of it?" she asked. "And don't tell me you don't know!"

"I…" He looked around confused, not knowing what else to say. "Lady touchy touchy King!"

"What?" Sarah exclaimed, instantly appalled at the suggestion.

"Lady touchy touchy the King, and the King woke up!" Dink insisted. "Do it again!"

Sarah let her shoulders slump with understanding. "I was touching him for three days, that's not what woke him up." Sarah waywardly glanced in the crystal, just to see if there was something else in it, and saw herself and Dink as they debated with each other at that moment. "He's watching us," she whispered to herself, watching as only her lips moved in the crystal but no sound was heard.

"Lady touchy touchy King!" Dink insisted.

Sarah looked at the little goblin when his image appeared in the crystal, his comment was heard clearly. "Jareth, stop the crystal." She watched herself repeated her command then it flashed multiple images in quick succession of Jareth tossing a crystal in the air, each orb disappearing once it left his hand.

Willing to give it a try, she took a step back, though she wasn't sure why, held the crystal at her fingertips as Jareth had done, and tossed it high into the air, quickly bending in half to cover her head in preparation of it hitting the ceiling and bouncing back to hit her. The clear orb never came down.

"Where'd it go?" Sarah asked, straightening herself to look around curiously.

"You make crystal go away like King," the goblin answered in awe, his eyes wide with wonder. "You have magic!"

"Jareth," she breathed, and raced to the bed, ignoring the goblin completely. "Jareth!" she called more urgently.

"King won't wake up, Lady. King wasn't strong enough to make a crystal."

"Out!" Sarah commanded, pointing to the doorway.

"What I do?" the goblin asked offended, then sighed deeply and resigned himself to obey when Sarah simply stared at him pointing toward the door.

She closed the door behind the goblin then went back to the bed. She checked Jareth's breathing once more, brushing his hair from his face to see if he had awoke. He hadn't. She turned her body and sunk to the floor, resting her back against the mattress.

"And you're how old?" she asked rhetorically in a disgruntled tone, looking over the mattress at his prone figure. "You couldn't wait until you were stronger, could you?" Folding her arms over her chest, she breathed gruffly with irritation. "Goblin!"

"Goblin's name is Dink!" he fumed upon appearing before her, his little hands on his tiny hips.

Sarah looked at him curiously, then smiled politely. "Very well, Dink. Go fetch me my book that the man gave to me today."

"Dink a goblin, not a dog!" he argued, bending his knees threateningly, ready to fight.

"You will get me my book," Sarah told him forcibly, rising to her feet to peer down at him. "Or you will not be allowed to enter here at all!"

Dink straightened his back and looked at the Lady, contemplating if she was telling him the truth or not. His eyes shifted ever so slightly to his King, and noticed how his majesty's lips curved slightly with amusement. Dink met the Lady's gaze once more, knowing that she didn't see the King wake up. He disappeared only to return within a couple of seconds.

"Book for Lady," he stated, lugging the heavy text to her before disappearing again.

"About time he just left with out me having to tell him," she grumbled to herself as she turned towards the bed. She checked Jareth once more, not noticing any change, then carefully climbed over him to settle on the other side of the mattress with her book. "I seriously hope you don't mind sleeping with the lights on, '_King_'," she mused whimsically. "Because I'll be pulling an all nighter with my book." She settled herself comfortably, then glanced over at Jareth. "'_You_' apparently can't be trusted to be left alone without hurting yourself, so consider yourself babysat until further notice."

Sarah carefully ripped the packaging from her book, and stared at the cover dreamily for a moment, then shifted her gaze to the seemingly unconscious man beside her. She watched as his upper body moved slightly in rhythm to his breathing, then daringly reached out to caress an area of his back with no injuries. A sheet modestly covered his butt, but not enough to protect him from her hungry eyes. Tearing her gaze away, she opened her book, and was completely captivated by the story within minutes.

XxXxX

"Dink," Jareth called, just slightly above a whisper. His servant was standing before him immediately, wringing his hands nervously. "Where is she?" Dink's gaze shifted slightly behind his King's back.

"Lady sleeps with King," he answered quietly.

Jareth pulled his arms under his chest, wincing as the skin on his back pulled taut around the wound. He turned his head to the other side and found her curled up, almost in a ball, with her back against the wall, and her book hugged tightly against her chest. With a deep sigh, Jareth carefully maneuvered himself to throw a leg over the side of the mattress.

"King is not strong enough to get up!" Dink exclaimed with anxious concern, looking back at Sarah fretfully.

Jareth paused his movements, glanced over at Sarah, then fixed Dink with a pointed glare. "Shush!" He continued his attempt to stand up.

"Lady yells at Dink," the goblin complained in an anxious voice. "She threatens me, too!"

"I yell threats at you all the time," Jareth replied between gritted teeth, forcing himself to overcome the pain while putting his feet to the floor, leaning heavily on the mattress.

"But, your my King. You're allowed to yell and threaten me."

"And this is the Lady's castle," Jareth gritted in a pained voice. "She has been more than generous towards us, wouldn't you agree?"

Dink solemnly mulled this in his head while Jareth insisted on trying to stand up straight. "She cried when King did not wake up," Dink said informatively. "She made your crystal go away with magic."

"She had help with that," Jareth whispered weakly, his breathing already strained from his excursion.

"King is not strong enough to get up." Dink reiterated fretfully, wringing his hands in front of his chest.

Jareth ignored the goblin and managed to stand upright for the first time in days. Though his legs trembled and his back felt like lava heat, it felt good to stand on his own two feet.

"Lady says King must rest."

"And you are annoying me greatly. Now go elsewhere." Jareth closed his eyes, breathing deeply while his body quaked under the strain.

Dink looked from his King to the Lady then back again with indecision. Suddenly he scrunched his face with determination, puffed out his chest, and worked his little arms to get himself all fired up.

"Lady!" he shouted loudly, then promptly disappeared from sight.

"Send Dink to the bog," Jareth mumbled to himself. "Must remember that."

Sarah opened her eyes to see Jareth standing at the side of the bed, tucking the sheet around his waist. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked, rising from the bed to stand in front of him.

"I am standing," he answered with as much arrogance as he could muster. "What does it look like I am doing?"

"You're going to be falling if you don't lay back down," she told him. He was paler than she'd ever seen him, and his body physically trembled with his exertion. She placed a hand on his bare chest, thankful he had had the foresight to wrap the sheet around his narrow hips, and attempted to ease him back to the bed.

He grabbed her wrist with a grasp firmer than she had expected, causing her to suck in a startled breath. "I wish to remain standing for the moment," he told her bluntly, not releasing her wrist when she tried to pull her hand free. "I thought you were more at ease with my presence." He remarked, noticing the hint of uncertainty that lit in her eyes.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" she asked, letting him hold onto her wrist without further struggle. She had no doubt that she'd be able to pull free from his grasp, but didn't want him to use any more energy than he already was.

"I was told of how you remained close at hand when my goblins first brought me here. How you fawned over me, tending to my wounds with the utmost care."

"Yea, well," she chuckled nervously. "That was when you weren't able to do anything yourself."

"Perhaps you were simply more comfortable while I was unconscious. When you could, quite literally, do whatever you wanted with me."

She blushed profusely, turning her head to avoid his gaze. "I know you saw what I did." She met his eyes defiantly. "And you damn nearly killed yourself, again, making that crystal."

"I did see what you had done," he stated agreeably, leaning closer to her slightly. "But tell me, Sarah," he questioned in a deep suggestive tone. "Would you continue to caress my skin, knowing how I react to your gentle touch?" His thumb caressed the pulse spot on her wrist. "Would you touch your lips to mine if I continued to refused to eat?" He lowered his head closer to the side of her face, feeling his strength waning as quickly as her breaths became uneven. "Would you whisper softly to me while I slept if you knew I heard every word?"

"No," she whispered within a breath, closing her eyes against the effect he was having on her. She couldn't breath, her heart hammered in her chest, her mind grew fuzzy and disoriented. "No," she repeated in a stronger voice. "I wouldn't."

"Pity," he remarked, fighting to keep his voice even, despite his strength giving out on him.

He released her so suddenly that she thought he had collapsed. Snapping her eyes open, she found him gently easing himself back to the mattress. Putting much needed space between them to let her head clear somewhat.

"I've exhausted myself for your comfort, my Lady," he told her quietly, closing his eyes to rest on his side.

"Why?" she demanded, stepping closer in agitation. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself? Surely you want to heal and return home?"

"Surely," he repeated patronizingly in a weak voice. "What I want is more obvious than that."

"Obviously, I don't know…"

"Lady!" Dink exclaimed happily from behind her, causing her to jump in surprise. The other goblins appeared in the room with him, each carrying more supplies. "We went shopping!"

"Why is that goblin wearing pantyhose on his head?" Sarah asked hesitantly.

"Zip went the wrong way," Dink stated simply as an explanation.

Sarah decided not to question it any further, and simply accepted the supplies as they handed them to her.

"King is sleeping?"

"Yes," Sarah replied tiredly, turning her head to gaze upon his elegant features. "King is sleeping."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I want to thank everyone who has added this to their favorites, and also big thanks to those who gave me reviews. I appreciate the objective criticism on certain accounts of this story, some I wasn't aware of. So, I ask for your patience while I work on a few character flaws. In the meantime, I hope you all continue to enjoy reading this. ~Kat~

* * *

A Dreamer's Heart ~ Chapter Three

After cleansing his wounds and re-bandaging them, Sarah carefully maneuvered Jareth to the center of the full sized bed. Hopefully it would deter him from trying to get up again, though she doubted it. The bite marks on his leg and foot were nearly healed completely, leaving only his back to tend to for the most part. If he'd stop exhausting himself that was.

Not trusting Jareth to stay put, she laid down on the outer edge of her bed with the intention to just rest for a little bit, and keep an eye on him before assigning a goblin to guard him while she moved to slept on the couch. But, the next thing she knew it was morning, and the annoying sound of the phone ringing filtered into her dreaming mind. Rolling over, she promptly ignored the phone until the battle cries of goblins shattered her sleep like a stone against fragile glass.

Forgetting she was so close to the edge of her bed, Sarah rolled backwards and squealed as she fell off the mattress to land on the floor with a loud thud and an oomph. Jareth raised his head curiously at the commotion. "Goblins," Sarah muttered disoriented from the floor. Then the phone rang again, causing an uproar in the living room. "Oh shit, no!" she exclaimed louder, scrambling to her feet. "Goblins, no!" she yelled, running out of the bedroom. "Stop!"

'_And she wonders why I want to stay_,' Jareth thought whimsically, dropping his head back to the pillow. '_This is the most entertainment I've had in ages_.'

Sarah raced through the living room, pushing the goblins out of her way as they ganged up on her ringing telephone. "No!" she shouted at them firmly, grabbing the old style phone protectively with both hands. Only when they stopped hissing and growling did she dare answer it.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver. "Hi, Stella," she greeted in a forced calm voice, though rolled her eyes as she plopped in the nearby chair. "No, everything is fine, I was just in the middle of… cleaning." Slumping back in the chair, she half listened to Stella go on and on about Mary Baker and the gardener. After telling the older woman four times that she had to go, Stella finally conceded and said her goodbyes, twice. Hanging up the receiver, Sarah placed the phone back on the table, then turned towards her bedroom.

"Goblins!" she shouted, letting her ire convey in her voice. Two of the five goblins appeared instantly, Dink was not one of them. Striding steadily in the direction of her room, Sarah told the other two to follow her.

"I know you heard me call you," she stated from the doorway.

"We were telling King a story," Dink defended, letting her know that their King still had superiority over Sarah.

"Really?" she quipped. "Well, let me tell you a story," she started sarcastically. "It's about a woman who lives in a cabin in the woods all by herself, and every once in a while people from the nearby town will call her on the phone to make sure she is okay. Now if for some reason the woman does not answer the phone when it rings, then the people will drive all the way up here to find out why!"

"What she say?" Dink asked his King.

"She says," Sarah spoke out. "You do not attack anything in my home unless I tell you to!"

"Is that right?" Dink asked the King curiously. "She can do that?"

"Yes, she can do that," Jareth replied, surprising Sarah as well as the goblins. The small horde sighed in disappointment and solemnly left the room. "They grow on you, don't they?" Jareth quipped pleasantly, propping his head with his palm.

"Sure they do," she replied cynically. "Just like a scab you can't help but pick at. It's annoying, but there for a reason."

"Have I disrupted your life so horribly?" Jareth asked ruefully after a moment of silence.

She stared at him for a moment, stunned by his question. "No, I… I just…" '_You just what, Sarah?_' her inner voice asked. '_You just save his life to treat him like shit?_' "I need a shower," she stated quickly, making an excuse to leave the room.

Her emotions were in turmoil as she stood under the steaming spray of her shower. When had she become so intolerant to anyone being in her home for a few days? For the first time in what seemed like forever, she had someone to fuss over, and the goblins… well, the goblins were a different story. They were simply messy and loud, and… disruptive to no end. But, they were here to defend their king, whom was the root of her emotional turmoil.

She'd often caught herself fantasizing about him, usually while cleaning the wound on his back, but her fantasies were starting to take on a life of their own since he's become conscious. At first she thought it was his magic that entranced her senses, drawing her to him and feeding her attraction to him as his magic grew stronger. But, then she realized that it was her own doing when she still felt the same impulsiveness to touch him even after he had depleted his strength completely. She felt herself falling for him, falling for the fanciful idea that he could be how she dreamed him, and that was a problem.

He wasn't some hardbound hero from a romance novel, he was the Goblin King. He was powerful and frightening, arrogant and self righteous, and god only knew what he was capable of. She frowned thoughtfully at her own depiction of the goblin king, comparing him to the men in her books, '_He really isn't all that different, is he?_' she thought. '_Well, except that he's immortal, and comes from an entirely different world._' She surmised to herself. '_And the fact that he's only here because his magic brought him here._' She frowned again, almost getting soap in her eyes. '_Why would his magic bring him to me?_'

With that very question foremost in her mind, she finished her shower and got dressed. Towel drying her hair for the time being, she returned to her bedroom, grateful at finding him in the same spot she had left him. She huffed an inner laugh. '_Yea, he stayed still because I told him to, good one Sarah, why not have another dose of delusion while your at it._'

"What has happened this time?" he asked with light exasperation. Seeing the disgruntled expression on her features, he surmised that his goblins had done something else to annoy her.

"Why are you here?" she asked bluntly, giving no warning to her inner thoughts.

"Pardon?" he quipped, his brows arching higher on his forehead, completely taken by surprise at her question. "Have you fallen? Hit your head, perhaps?"

"Dink said that your magic brought you here, and not home," she explained. "Why would it do that?"

Jareth let his head fall back to the pillow with a deep sigh, holding her gaze with his. "I'm sure you recall the words you spoke just before our last parting," he remarked.

"Yea, what about them?"

He stared at her for a moment before slightly diverting his gaze from her eyes. "You had spoken words that magically bound you to be my equal by will, authority, and power." He met her gaze once more. "Therefore, upon my incapacity to make any decision on my own behalf, my magic would deem you the only one entrusted with my well being."

Sarah processed what he had just told her. "That's why you were reluctant to simply let me go," she murmured more to herself thoughtfully, remembering the crest fallen expression on his face when she had refused his offer. "I won the right to have Toby back the second I stepped foot into the castle."

"You would have never accepted that," he told her simply. "It was within you to seek me out, to challenge me personally. You needed to stand before me and prove that you would not cower, and I let you." He sighed deeply while looking away from her. "Of all the times for you to remember those words," he stated with regret. "Just a few seconds more and…"

"And you would have let me believe that I belonged to you forever," she finished, her tone somewhere between incredulous and fascinated.

His eye contact wavered slightly, a brief pained expression flitted across his features. "It matters not, now," he replied in a nondescript tone, clearing his face of all expression. He cautiously shifted into a better sitting position. "If you would be so kind," he directed towards her. "I've grown hungry and would like some sustenance."

She watched him struggle for a comfortable position to sit in, while favoring his wounded back. After he finally settled himself he let his head fall back against the headboard, meeting her eyes regally with a stoic gaze.

"I'll clean your wound and change the bandages after you eat," she stated quietly, leaving the room to make breakfast.

She wanted to be angry and hate him for deceiving her like that, but she couldn't. He really had done more for her than she had ever thought. She wanted to call him a liar and a cheat, but that wasn't fair either, he had let her run the challenge by her own design, and that must have been very hard for him. She paused in the hallway, out of his sight, and stared back towards her bedroom. '_He really had been generous towards me_.' she thought in retrospect. '_And I threw it in his face_.' She stared down at her feet. '_I wonder what he would've done if…_' she stopped herself from going down that road, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. '_Like he said, it doesn't matter, now_.'

She paused in the den to stare at the goblins for a moment. They had grown quiet as soon as she walked into the room, making her feel bad for yelling at them. "Later, I'll see if I can find some fun things for you to do so you won't be so bored."

"Okay, Lady," Dink replied with a smile, nodding at his brothers as they all smiled happily at her.

She continued on to the kitchen to fix something quick for breakfast.

XxXxX

"I'm really starting to worry about this," Sarah stated with concern, straddling his waist while cleaning the wound on his back. "It's not looking good at all. In fact, it looks worse than it did last night."

"Of course it does," he replied evenly. "With all the gook you keep putting on it, I'm surprised it's not much worse than it is."

"What gook?" she questioned indignantly. "It's antibacterial ointment. It helps heal wounds, and reduces infections."

"For you, perhaps. But, not me."

'_He's not human._' The realization struck her like a slap in the face. "Oh my god," she whispered, looking at the glaze of ointment she had just liberally applied to his wound with horror. She removed herself from atop of him, standing at the side of the bed.

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" she questioned, completely irate at him. "Why would you let me use this on you knowing it would make things worse?" She angrily waved the tube of ointment near his face.

"And give up having your undivided attention?" he countered in a smooth tone, raising his shoulder to rest his upper body on his elbow. "I happen to enjoy the feel of your delicate hands on my back," he told her in a seductive, velvety voice. "The way you straddle my body with your shapely legs, the caress of your breath upon my skin when you lean over me. A small infection is nothing to be concerned about in light of gaining so much personal attention."

She stared at him dumbfounded, letting the sound of his voice seep through her ire. His seductive words fed the void of loneliness within her, hope filled her entire being and did back flips in her gut at finding someone to want her, someone to love her and…

She blinked in rapid succession and slightly shook her head, frowning outwardly for almost believing him. She became angry again, at herself this time, for wanting to believe him so badly that she was nearly blinded to the truth. He didn't want her, he just didn't want her to be his equal and would say anything for her to relinquish that power.

"Nice try," she told him curtly, scoffing at the confused expression that came to his features. "Why don't you just tell me how to get that wound to start healing so you can go home," she dictated in a curt tone.

He regarded her carefully, confused by her sudden coldness when mere moments before she had looked upon him with longing. But, her eyes had become cruel once more, hiding any feelings she may have towards him. It was obvious that she no longer fancied him being in her care, and wanted to be rid of him. "You must purge the wound to get the infection out," he told her directly, resigning himself to the fact that she would never want him, or accept him as anything but an adversary.

"I have to what?" she asked in a deep voice. "I don't know how to do that," she informed him. "I'm not some trained professional, I'm lucky was able to do as much as I did considering how deep that thing is!"

"Once you remove all traces of the ointment you've been using, my body will heal itself."

"Well, how am I supposed to do that?" she asked, still slightly incredulous. "I can't put you in the shower, the pain alone would damn nearly kill you all over again."

"Get one of your towels and soak it in warm water," he instructed in a quiet, calm tone. Wring it out, and lay it over the wound. I'll do the rest."

"What do you mean, you'll do the rest?" she asked warily. "You don't have any magic in you. How can you…"

"I always have magic within me, Sarah." He chuckled without humor. "Though doing this will most likely render me unconscious. I hope, for the last time in your presence."

She nodded dumbly in agreement and went to her bathroom for a hand towel. Returning a few minutes later with it damp with warm water, she laid it over his wound as he had instructed.

"This won't be pleasant, I warn you," he stated, looking over his shoulder at her. "You must hold the cloth in place to absorb the infection as I magically draw it out."

Nodding, she climbed up on the bed to straddle his waist, placing her hands on the outer edges of the towel.

"How will I know if it's working, or when you're done?"

"You'll know," he answered in a quieter voice, diverting his gaze. "The infection will most likely be a nasty color, black by the feel of it. Once it's absorbed into the towel, you must remove it." Again, Sarah nodded, bracing herself though she wasn't sure what to expect.

"Sarah, you must burn it to kill the infection," he instructed as an afterthought. "It has magical tendencies and will assume a life of its own once removed from my body. You must make sure it is completely destroyed."

"Oh, shit," she muttered, bracing herself anew over his back. "You could have mentioned that a little sooner. I could have at least had a fire going." Then an idea came to her. "Wait a minute," she told Jareth. "Dink!" she called in a firm voice.

"What are you doing?" Dink asked suspiciously upon seeing the Lady sitting on his King's back, seemingly holding the King down."

"I need you to go outside and make a fire in the char pit I have out back," she instructed him authoritatively. "Make sure it is contained, and don't let it get too big. We're going to have something ugly to burn real soon."

Dink shifted his gaze from the Lady to his King's back, then wrinkled his face with distaste. "Purging?" Both Jareth and Sarah nodded. "I will do this," he declared and vanished within an instant.

"What am I getting into, Jareth?" she asked quietly, feeling him breath deeply in preparation to use his magic. "What is this thing going to look like? Will it try to bite me, or have claws?"

He relaxed his preparations at her questions, would have laughed out right if the circumstances were different. But he heard the fear in her voice, felt the nervousness in her hands over the towel on his skin. "It won't be as monstrous as that, Sarah," he reassured her calmly. "Just make sure none of it escapes your towel." Then as another afterthought came to him, he added. "Oh, it will have a very unpleasant… stench."

"Stench?" she repeated, remembering vividly the smell of the bog of eternal stench. But before she could ask him to elaborate his body tensed underneath her and a black slimy substance began to soak into the towel under her hands.

It started as a thin line from the center of his wound, weaving itself into the fibers, then spread outward into the towel as she held it firmly in place at a diagonal angle along his back. As the slime grew thicker a foul stench assaulted her senses. "Oh my god," she exclaimed, turning her head to the side to burry her nose into her shoulder.

His jaw was clenched tight, his face that of pure agony as he magically expelled the vile substance from his body. He growled gruntingly as the last of it was exercised from his wound. "Now!" he managed to say before losing consciousness.

She methodically pulled the towel from his wound by one end, folding it this way and that to contain the thick ooze within the fibers. Jumping from the bed, she was about to bound out into the hallway when Dink suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Me take it," he stated firmly with urgency, holding out his hands for the towel. Trusting him to know what to do, she handed it to him, and he vanished. She continued into the hallway, ran through the house to the kitchen, the back porch, and out the back screen door. Sprinting around the corner of the house, she saw Dink and the other goblins standing before the char pit she used to burn her rubbish, watching the infectious… thing burn in a blaze of variant colors with sounds of sizzling, hissing, and moaning. When the infection had been completely burned, the blaze dimmed to a low flame, turning into embers and ash within a few short minutes.

"Jareth."

Turning back to the screen door, Sarah quickly made her way through the house to her bedroom. Reaching the doorway she slowed her pace to casually walk into the room, capturing him in her sights as she neared the bed. She could already see the difference in the wound on his back. It wasn't as raw or swollen, and the jagged corners of skin on each end of the laceration seemed to already be healing itself closed.

She sat wearily on the edge of the bed by his waist, her knees bent with both feet on the floor. "Why would you purposely let yourself suffer like that?" she asked quietly, twisting her upper body to brush the uneven blonde strands of hair away from his face. Her heart told her why. '_Because he still wants you. He loves you, Sarah._' While her mind rebutted the idea. '_He's just too proud and stubborn to ask for help_._ He is a king, after all._'

She swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes, blurring her vision. "You won't have a reason to stay after this heals," she murmured in a soft, quiet voice, swallowing hard once more as she gently caressed the side of his face, reveling in the feel of his smooth skin. "In a couple of days you'll go home," she choked, clenching her jaw when her voice cracked with emotion. The realization that she would return to her lonely existence after he left painfully tore at her heart.

She suddenly rose to her feet, looking back at him from the side of the bed. She had to distance herself from him emotionally. He would be fine now. His wound would heal without any interference from her, and then he would leave. She did what she promised the goblins she'd do, and that was to help their King, to save him from dying. She turned away from Jareth to find Dink standing in the doorway hugging himself with a pained expression on his little face as he stared up at her.

"What is it, Dink?" she asked almost fearfully, having no idea that the little creature could sense her inner turmoil, then gave herself a mental shake. '_He's just concerned about his king, that's all_.' "He'll be fine, Dink," she reassured him in a steady voice, moving to leave the room. "He'll most likely be back to his normal self in a few days, and then you'll all go home."

"Dink can stay with Lady," he told her in a cautious voice, turning his head to follow her as she left the room. Sarah paused in the hallway to look back at the little goblin. "King too busy to miss little Dink anyway," he added, smiling up at her with his attempt at humor.

"I'm sure you're more important than you realize, Dink. Thank you for offering to stay, but you belong with the king back in your own world." She smiled weakly at the brave little thing. "Stay with your king for now, and let me know when he wakes up, okay?"

"Okay, Lady," Dink replied quietly, turning to fully enter the room. He glanced over his shoulder to stare at her retreating back as she moved down the hallway.

He turned back toward the bed, stepping up to the side to look upon his king. "Lady don't know you hear things in your sleep, does she, King?" he asked quietly. He frowned with very deep thoughts as he climbed up on the bed to sit near Jareth's feet. "This sleep is different," he surmised to himself. "King wouldn't make a crystal if he knew what Lady say." He looked up the length of the long, familiar form of his sovereign with loyal eyes. "Dink will tell King what Lady say when you in this sleep," he vowed determined. "Then maybe you show Lady some magic that she is sad about not having."

XxXxX

Sarah had fallen asleep on the couch only to wake up to the distinct smell of something burning in the kitchen. '_Goblins!_' she lurched from the couch and raced into the kitchen to see a billowing cloud of black smoke pouring from a pan on the stovetop, the goblins busily mulling around the room with happy expressions on their faces.

"What are you doing?" she asked, keeping her voice to a sweet, curious tone instead of screaming at them hysterically as she wanted to do.

"We cook for Lady and King!" Dink announced enthusiastically, the others nodded and bounced in agreement.

She glanced around her kitchen with her mouth gaped open and eyes wide. "Oh…"

Milk streamed onto the floor from the open container that lay on its side on the countertop, the sink was near overflowing with the water still running in it, and the black smoke was the handle of a pot that had been left over one of the burners.

"My…" There was a white coating of what could only be flour all over the counter, the floor, and the table, along with goblin prints scattered over everything.

"God…" The fridge had something dripping out of it from under the door, every pot and pan was dirty with… she had no idea what. Batter of some sort was running in clumps down the walls, the window had egg shells stuck to it, and utensils lie wherever they happened to be dropped.

She closed her eyes, and her mouth, in an attempt to gain control over the situation, but simply came up short as her mind went numb while trying to process the mess in a calm and orderly fashion.

"Lady like strudel?" Dink asked cheerfully, stirring something in a pot.

"Strudel?" Sarah asked dumbly. Then, her temper got the better of her. "Are you kidding me?!" She exploded vocally. "My kitchen is a complete disas…"

The hand that adeptly covered her mouth could belong to only one person, holding her outrage in her throat as he stepped up behind her. "They will clean everything when they are done," Jareth reassured her in a calm, if not weak, voice at her ear. He felt her relax instantly and let go of her as she turned around to face him.

"You shouldn't be up yet," she told him in a concerned voice, her anger suddenly forgotten. "Where'd you find clothes?" she asked, frowning at the oversized t-shirt and sweat pants he was wearing.

He gave her a weak, knowing smile before turning to head back to the bedroom, assuming she would follow him without any prompting. He was right in that assumption.

"How the hell are you even standing?" she asked, letting her previous question drop as she dogged him from behind. "And what gave them the idea that they could cook?" she demanded to know, pointing back towards her kitchen. "Did you see the mess, Jareth? I have no idea where to even '_begin_' to clean that mess!"

"They'll clean it," he replied evenly. "Just as they cleaned their mess in the bathroom."

"The bathroom?" she echoed, stopping short with an expression of dread on her face. "What about the bathroom?" She would have ran down the hallway to investigate if it weren't for Jareth blocking her way as he slowly tread along the hallway. But, she'd have to practically shove him aside to get past him, and she wasn't about to do that.

"Nothing, is about the bathroom," he stated evenly. "They've already cleaned it, and returned everything to your liking." He stopped to turn around and face her. "They discovered bubbles in water about three days ago, if you must know. And I'm not going to tell you any more on the subject."

"Bubbles in water," she repeated, closing her eyes as images of what kind of mess that would've been flashed in her mind. "Oh, thank god for magic," she stated with a deep calming breath.

"God had nothing to do with it," he quipped cynically, turning around to continue towards her bedroom.

"No, of course not," she muttered, following him again. "It's just an expression."

"Yes, of that much I am aware," he replied dryly, entering the bedroom to head straight for the bed. He eased himself tenderly onto the mattress, wincing only slightly as he positioned himself to lean upon propped pillows along the headboard.

"How did you get to the kitchen so fast?" she asked with sudden curiosity, considering how long it took him to walk back to her room.

"I'm a fast healer," he quipped evenly, meeting her gaze impassively.

Upon wakening, Dink had informed Jareth of many things that he hadn't been aware of during his bouts of unconsciousness. The feeling of complete despair that his goblin had sensed in Sarah while she contemplated Jareth's return to his own world had been the most important as far as Jareth was concerned. Now, it was simply a matter of prolonging his stay until she admitted to herself, and to him, that she wanted to remain with him forever.

"Really?" she questioned skeptically. "You used magic? This soon?" His arched brows rose indignantly at her doubting him. Sarah licked at her suddenly dry lips, and stepped closer to the bed. "Let me see your back."

He leaned forward, enabling her to gently pull the t-shirt, that he had found in her closet, up to his shoulders. She gasped in surprise at how much his wound had healed. The previously gaping wound had already closed itself completely, leaving only a puffy scar-like imperfection on his otherwise perfect back.

"I can't believe it's healing so fast," she murmured in awe, tenderly running her fingertips over the almost healed wound. "It's only been a few hours since we purged the infection."

"I'm sure you'll learn not to doubt my word soon enough," he remarked casually. He straightened his back and pulled the shirt down, forcing her to step back from him as he resettled himself against the pillows. "I expected you to be relieved once you saw how quickly I'd be able to return to my kingdom."

"You honestly used magic to get to the kitchen just now, didn't you?" she asked in a quiet voice, ignoring his impromptu question. If he was healing that fast then he'd leave even sooner than she had thought. It was all happening too fast, she hadn't had time to quell the dreadful feeling of loneliness that would ensue after his departure. She didn't have enough time to convince herself that she was hoping for something that didn't exist outside of her fanciful dreams and stupid novels.

"Having enough magic to use within such a short distance," he explained patiently, watching her intently. "And having enough to return home are two very different types of magic."

She nodded in acknowledgement, frowning as she processed everything in her mind. Jareth clearly sensed her inner turmoil; her relief of him not being able to leave just yet, her conflict for why she wanted him to remain in the first place, and the hope of a dream that she'd been suppressing since his arrival.

"I don't understand your confusion," Jareth told her openly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, meeting his gaze.

"The constant battle of emotions that I sense within you," he informed her, thinking it was a good time as any to let her know he was aware of her inner turmoil. "I've sensed it often between my bouts of unconsciousness, though I'm not sure if you are troubled because I must stay or because I am recovering faster than you expected. Would you care to enlighten me?"

"Not particularly, no," she answered curtly, moving away from him, as though that would make a difference when he could sense her emotions no matter where she was within her home. "How long have you been able to sense things within me?" she asked warily, her emotions suddenly guarded against him.

"Since I gave you your gifts," he told her. "Just as you can sense emotions within others."

"No, I can't do that," she denied definitively, shaking her head. "I wouldn't have went through… I would've known things if I could do that."

"I've noticed your denial," he voiced contemplatively. "Though, I can't fathom how you aren't aware of my gifts as you claim."

"I don't '_have_' any gifts, Jareth, that's how," she stressed, moving to the other side of her room, leaning on her dresser with a bowed head. "There never were certain gifts, just like you never fell in love with me. It was just part of a story."

Oh, now that hurt. He clenched his jaw, suppressing his hurt with anger. "Then I should return home as soon as possible," he sneered. "Since I am nothing but part of a story."

"That's not what I meant," she began to explain, slumping her shoulders as she turned to look at him. "I just don't feel…" Her words were cut off by stunned shock at finding the bed empty. "Jareth?" She glanced around the room as panic consumed her. '_No, he can't... he's not strong enough!_'

"Jareth!" she screamed, panic rampant in her voice as she ran from her room to search the house.


	4. Chapter 4

A Dreamer's Heart ~ Chapter Four

She found him on the back porch, leaning heavily against the frame of the screen door, and breathing laboriously. His goblins were running around inside the house screaming 'Jareth', while mimicking Sarah's frantic search of every room.

"It seems I'm incapable of returning home just yet," he informed her with as much dignity as he could muster, refusing to lift his gaze from the floor.

She slowly approached him, stopping a couple feet away. Her heart beat so fast the sound of it thumped in her ears. "I didn't mean to hurt you," she told him in an unsteady voice. "I don't feel the things you say I should, and I don't know why. But, you were never just a part of a story, Jareth. Never." She walked closer, noticing how his arm trembled under his own weight as he leaned on it. "Let me help you back inside?" she asked tentatively, not sure if his ego would allow any more help from her.

He remained unmoving for a moment, allowing all the emotions he could sense from her wash over him, soothing his wounded heart, his battered pride. Her apology was heartfelt, he knew that much, felt it in fact. What he hadn't expected was how upset she had become when she couldn't find him, and he hadn't needed his magic to sense that at all. She had been terrified that he had simply left, vanished into thin air, never to return.

He lifted his head to see her expression of helpless uncertainty as she waited for him to answer her, wringing her hands in front of herself. She was so confused internally that even he couldn't make sense of any it, despite his years of sensing other's emotions. Of course he would allow her to help him back inside, what choice did he have? Besides, it was while he was at his weakest that she was the most comfortable around him. She seemed to thrive on having him to fawn over, and he was desperate enough for her attention to continually give her that comfort.

Nodding his consent, he shifted his weight away from the door frame, closing his eyes wearily as she slipped under his arm to support him with an arm around his waist. Slowly they made their way through the kitchen, Jareth leaning heavily upon her shoulders.

By the time they reached the living room, the little bit of strength that Jareth had had gave out. He grabbed Sarah, turning her in his arms so that his chest leaned against her back. With his arms around her shoulders, and his hands hugging at her sides, he rested his chin at the crook of her neck. "I need a moment," he told her weakly.

Suddenly the goblins noisily entered the room, screaming their king's given name in unison while waving their arms frantically in the air. Sarah stared dumbly as they ran past them into the kitchen, through to the back porch, then out the back door into the woods.

"I was '_not_' waving my arms in the air like that," she stated defensively, though she couldn't deny screaming his name just as they had mimicked.

"I need to lie down, Sarah," he whispered in an exhausted voice, placing more of his weight upon her. She uncrossed his arms from around her, ducking within his embrace to turn around and lend him more support.

"Here, lay down on the couch for now," she directed, leading him over to said furniture. "I'll help you back to the bed later, when you can at least stand on your own."

He allowed her to lead him to the couch, pulling her down on top of him as he fell back onto the cushions. She squealed in surprise, struggling to regain her balance so she didn't bodily land on top of him, only for him to grab her wrist to hold her with as much strength he could muster. He grunted painfully when her elbow jabbed him in the ribs while she struggled.

"Oh, shit, Jareth, I'm sorry!" she apologized quickly, still trying to avoid her body landing fully on his.

Shifting on his back, he pulled a leg up onto the couch to stretch out. "Just be still!" he commanded, his authoritive tone clear even with his voice as weak as it was. She ceased all movement to stare at him blankly, her body positioned half on half off of him in a most awkward position, while he retained his hold of her in a loose grasp. "You've become an emotional upheaval, Sarah Williams," he breathed laboriously. "And I'm too exhausted to ignore what you're projecting. Just be still."

"You can really sense my emotions?" she asked curiously, remaining as still as possible in her awkward position.

He raised his arm up over his head, over the arm of the couch, holding her arm to pull her down upon his chest. After being assured that she wouldn't struggle against him anymore, he released his hold of her, letting his arm hang limply at the elbow behind his head. "Yes," he finally answered, closing his eyes tiredly. "Just… be… still."

She stared up at him at an angle, her head hovering at his shoulder in the uncomfortable position he had pulled her into. His breathing leveled as he quickly fell asleep under her, and although she was tempted to carefully remove herself from him, something told her that doing so would only upset him further. So, she rested her head upon his shoulder, her hand lying upon the other one, then slowly shifted herself to accommodate the rest of her body with his.

She felt the steady beating of his heart under her hand as she thought about things. She heard the screen door open then slam shut, and the noise of goblins filtered into the house. They stopped dead in their tracks at seeing Sarah and Jareth piled upon each other, limbs all twisted together, while their king rested. With their arms frozen in the air above their heads, their eyes bulged, and their mouths gaped open, they stared dumbly at the pair.

"Go play with bubbles in water," Sarah told them in a hushed voice, though if all the noise the goblins were making hadn't disturbed the king, she doubted anything could. A resounding cheer echoed throughout the house as they clamored onward towards the bathroom.

Sarah sighed deeply, wondering why she suddenly didn't care what mess they might make. Listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat, Sarah let the feeling of peaceful content surround her. Within minutes her eyelids grew too heavy to keep open as she fell asleep.

Jareth took a deep breath of relief as soon as she drifted into slumber. He'd never realized how much his magic protected him from sensing another's emotions. He'd always been able to selectively search for what he needed to know from any particular creature, disregarding the rest of any inner turmoil. But Sarah's entourage of panic, anxiety, fear, embarrassment, and brief flashes of desire had been simply too much.

Making her rest with him had seemed the best way to get her calmed down, luckily it had worked. She'd even been thrilled at his authoritive tone to be still, which he made a mental note for later use. He also discovered that she did in fact use her magical gifts when he projected calm acceptance towards his goblins as they noisily entered her home. When she had calmly told them to go play with the bubble water, he knew she had sensed his calm countenance. Once she had become attuned to him, she had then sensed his weariness and had absorbed it as her own, lulling her to fall asleep.

Taking a deep relaxing breath, Jareth resigned himself to rest. Listening to the sounds of happy goblins and running water, he soon was fast asleep.

XxXxX

Sarah slowly opened her eyes to find herself in the dark, only the soft glow of light filtering from the hallway broke the darkness. Becoming more aware of her surroundings, she realized that she had conformed herself with Jareth while asleep. Her arms were wrapped around his ribs with her hands splayed flat between his back and the couch cushion. Her legs were entwined with his, she discovered as she tried to stretch and felt his one leg covering hers, and her head lie comfortably upon his chest with his arms holding her in a loose embrace.

She thought of all the times she had dreamed of waking up like this, how nice it felt to be held and feel the warmth of someone she wanted to be with. That last thought gave her pause, and her heart quickened with the thought. But, before she could analyze it any further, his hand slid under her shirt to touch soft skin with gentle fingertips, then simply rested his palm at the small of her back. She closed her eyes refusing to let this euphoria end just yet, not allowing coherent thought to ruin the moment, and silently wished he'd repeat his gentle caress.

Her breathing deepened somewhat as his thumb leisurely brushed over her skin in a short sweeping motion. She couldn't help but react to the stimulation and stretched her back slightly in an attempt to hide her reaction just in case he was awake, which somehow she knew he was, and that he was simply resting with her lying on top of him. She had no desire to move, and she had a feeling that neither did he.

"Can you still sense what I'm feeling?" she whispered quietly, breaking the quiet of the room.

"Of course. You're content at the moment," he replied just as quietly. "And your pulse quickens when I caress your skin," he added in a pleased tone. "Should I assume you enjoy the feel of my touch?" he asked, brushing his thumb over her skin once more.

"Yea," she answered honestly. "It feels nice." She suddenly took a waking breath and gathered herself to move from him.

"Sarah," he addressed softly, tightening his embrace slightly. She paused, her muscles taught to lift herself from off of him. "Be still," he stated in a voice used to being obeyed. "We may never have a moment such as this again, and I for one would like to enjoy it while it lasts."

She relaxed again, settling her head back to his chest. "I shouldn't feel tired like this," she semi complained. "We've slept most of the day."

"I'm thoroughly exhausted," he explained. "And you're sensing this from me as your own fatigue."

"How come I didn't sense it before?" she questioned calmly, finding a strand of his hair to idly twirl around her finger.

"You've sensed certain things from me, Sarah, you simply can't tell the difference from your own emotions and someone else's while your upset."

"That's why you wanted me to lay with you," she concluded. "You knew I'd feel how tired you were and fall asleep."

"I had hoped for that outcome," he replied.

"So, why are you still so tired? You were healing quickly before today."

"Perhaps I simply need to be babysat with more diligence," he replied lightly, the corners of his mouth curling up with amusement. "I seem to continue hurting myself."

She raised her head from his chest to peer at him in the dark. "You heard me say that to you," she accused lightly, catching the brief glint of teeth as he smiled in response. "A lot of good that would do," she replied dryly, resettling her head on his chest. "It's not like I can stop you from using your magic." She picked her head up again to look at him. "Or can I?"

"No," he answered simply, resuming his light caressing of her back.

"I didn't think so," she surmised, resting her head again. After a moment of lying in silence, she spoke again. "Could you move your hand a little to the left?"

"Like this?" he asked, shifting his fingers to the left side of her back.

"Yea," she purred. "Just like that."

Jareth smiled deviously in the dark.

XxXxX

Lugging her favorite chair from the den to her bedroom had been a good idea, until it turned into a major event. Sarah had turned it on it's side to finagle it around the corner at the hallway, then turned it upright again for it to fit down the hallway itself only to get it stuck between the wall and the closet that protruded just enough that the back of the chair wouldn't budge past. To matters worse, she couldn't get it to back out either.

Grunting in frustration, she kicked, punched, pushed, climbed over it to pull it, body slammed it, and forcibly shoved at it before collapsing into the cushion completely exhausted.

"Lady need help?" Dink asked tentatively, peeking out from her bedroom.

Sarah lifted her head from the back of the chair, opening her eyes to look at the little creature. "I'm trying to get this chair into my bedroom," she stated, as though no one in the house was aware of her struggles with the piece of furniture. "And now it's stuck." She ran her fingers through her hair, leaning on her elbow while slumping to one side. "I don't think you can help, Dink, but thanks for asking."

"Did Lady try kicking it?" Dink asked, seemingly to be helpful.

"Yes," she answered with exasperation. "I tried kicking it, shoving it, pushing, pulling, you name it, I've tried it."

"Maybe try jumping up and down," he suggested with a gleam in his dark eyes, his lips curled back with apparent goblin humor.

"Dink." Jareth's voice weakly filtered into the hall, his tone laced with warning.

Dink cocked his head to one side, his ears visibly lowering at the sides of his head at hearing his king's voice, then looked back at Sarah. "Dink can't move chair with Lady in it," he told her in a simple yet polite tone.

"I think it's just a little too big for you, Dink," she started saying as she rose from the chair. "But, be my guest, give it a try."

"It is too big for Dink," the goblin stated agreeably, looking up at her. "But not too big for Dink, Zip, Stink, and Crumb." The other goblins appeared in the hallway next to and around Dink as he said their names. "We move chair for Lady," he told them. They all nodded in agreement and turned to face the piece of furniture.

"Where we move it to?" Zip asked suddenly, looking at Dink.

"We move it to the closet?" Crumb asked hopefully.

"I think it pretty where it at," Stink added.

"We move it to room King sleeps in," Dink told them with a little bit of impatience.

"Ohh…" the others chanted, then focused their attentions on the chair. Within seconds it vanished from the hallway.

Sarah went to stand by the doorway of her room to find the chair perfectly positioned where she had planned to put it. "Wow, that was very helpful. Thank you."

"Lady welcome," Dink replied, smiling up at her expectantly. "We have ice cream now?"

"Ice cream?" Sarah echoed, quirking her brows. "I don't have any ice cream."

"We know that," Dink replied, the others chuckled at finding her answer funny. "We get our own. But, King say we must ask Lady first."

"Oh," she voiced perplexed. "Uhm… sure, go ahead." With shouts of elation the goblins vanished from sight.

Sarah entered her bedroom and checked on Jareth as he rested quietly in the bed with his eyes closed, his breathing steady. She knew he wasn't asleep but merely rested peacefully, and she only knew that because of his warning to Dink a few minutes before hand. It made her wonder exactly how often he had been aware of her talking to him, touching him, while she had cleaned his wounds.

"Let me know if you need anything," she whispered at him, brushing aside some blonde strands from his face.

"Did you refuse them?" he asked, knowing that she hadn't. He'd heard everything since she had begun her task to move the bulky structure, even more so after it had become stuck.

"Was I supposed to?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive for allowing the goblins to have ice cream. She glanced over her shoulder towards him as she reached for her book on the nightstand next to her bed.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "You still take things for granted," he commented fondly, opening his eyes to meet her questioning gaze. "I suggest for you to stay alert for their return and command them to take their ice cream home immediately."

"What did I take for granted?" she asked apprehensively, straightening her back. "They only asked to have ice cream."

"What they call ice cream is not what you think it is," he informed her with his arched brows rising slightly with amusement.

"Lady!" Dink's voice suddenly called from the kitchen. "We bring ice cream!"

"I'd run if I were you," Jareth suggested, his eyes alight with humor.

Edged on by his warning Sarah dashed into the hallway, racing through the house as though there were a fire. She reached the kitchen to stare open mouthed and wide eyed at the cow with snow piled high on her head and back. "It's a cow," she murmured in shock.

"We make ice cream!" Dink announced happily.

"Go home," she commanded firmly, pointing at the goblins. "Right now!" All the goblins vanished. "And take your ice cream with you!" She added, still staring at the beast. The cow and all the snow suddenly vanished too.

She made her way back to her room on weary feet. "Thank you," she stated towards Jareth after entering her room. She retrieved her book and sank down upon her cozy chair to read while Jareth rested.

Jareth smiled inwardly, relishing the feel of relief he sensed from her. He had a feeling that she wouldn't appreciate such a mess as that in her home. He opened his eyes after hearing her turn a couple pages in her book, and simply watched her as she read her novel.

He'd already read the thing in its entirety, and thought it was interesting how mortals continued to dream within their literature while denying the existence of beings such as himself. Hoping to find some clue as to what Sarah's dreams were filled with these days, he had taken it upon himself to start reading each of her books whenever she wasn't looking. He had quickly found great insight as to why she was emotionally confused at any given moment while around him. Of course it was also the reason why he wasn't healing as quickly as before since he used his magic every time her back was turned.

As she turned another page, unaware that he watched her, he noticed how her cheeks flushed, how she nibbled at her bottom lip while her eyes devoured each page in anticipation as her story unfolded. He knew precisely which part of her story she was currently reading when she gasped softly, her lips parting to allow her slightly uneven breaths to flow unnoticed.

His own pulse quickened as she licked at suddenly dry lips, her eyes traveled along the script intently, darkening with desire as she read arousing details printed out before her. Her fingers made slight stroking motions as she held her book. Jareth smiled inwardly as he calculated how easy it would be to finally make Sarah Williams his. He simply had to offer her the correct dream.

He waited patiently as she turned another page with impatient fingers, her eyes catching the next word before the page was fully turned. He steeled himself in anticipation, awaiting her reaction to the sudden turn of events in her book at about this point. Then she gasped loudly, her eyes growing wide, and her mouth forming an O with disbelief. "No," she whispered in response, scanning the rest of the open pages for any hint that what had been started, would be finished. But, the scene changed suddenly to leave the reader in frustration. Jareth knew this, and was rewarded for his patience as her eyes subtly glided towards him, dark with arousal as though seeking him out to fulfill the need that had been left unsatisfied. She blushed profusely at seeing him watching her and quickly turned her head away, letting her hair fall over the side of her face to hide her discomfort.

"Your book is very interesting," he commented, breaking the silence.

She whipped her head around to look at him with wide eyes. "You've read this?"

"Sensing the emotions it insights in you are much more interesting than reading a book," he answered covertly.

"How come you never mentioned 'sensing' things within people before?" she asked, trying to change the subject away from her book.

"Why would I?" he countered quizzically. "I can alter time, erase the memory of a child within an entire world, does my being aware of other's emotions really seem that odd?"

"No," she voiced demurely. "I guess not, not when you put it that way it doesn't." she tucked her hair behind an ear and licked her lips. "Can you read minds, too?"

"Sarah," he stated patronizingly. "I wouldn't have fun at all if it weren't for some moments of unexpectedness. Though, I suppose I could if I wanted to. Should I try it on you?"

"No," she answered quickly, her voice tainted with fear. "I didn't mean it as an invitation, I was just curious."

He chuckled lightly, rolling onto his back, and closing his eyes. "I've never felt the desire to invade the thoughts of another, Sarah. I'm not about to start now."

She stared at him for a long moment, watching his chest rise and fall with steady breaths, then blatantly just stared at his face. he was just as captivating to look at as she remembered all those years ago. Placing her book to the side, she curled one leg under her and sank back in her chair more comfortably.

"What's it '_really_' like in the Labyrinth?" she asked with curiosity.

An arched brow quirked questioningly as he opened his eyes and turned to look at her. "You've seen it," he replied with a lilt to his voice. "It's not that different from when you were there." Then he shifted his head on the pillow to look upon her more intently. "Or are you really asking what '_I'm_' like when I'm not being formidable?"

She dipped her head slightly, diverting her eyes from his steady gaze. "Maybe I am," she admitted softly, raising her eyes to meet his again. "It's not like I had the chance to get to know you the last time we met," she chuckled uneasily.

"I offered you that chance," he replied pleasantly, his tone calm. "You refused it."

She huffed in sudden agitation, unfolding herself from her chair. "No matter what I say it's going to lead back to what happened years ago, isn't it?" she asked in frustration. "I'll just leave you alone. You need to rest anyway." She dropped her book on her chair and headed for the door.

"I'm only formidable when I need to be," he told her with closed eyes, catching her just before she reached the hallway. "If that relieves any of your curiosity."

She turned back to stare at him. She wanted to sit and talk with him. She wanted to know him better. "I bet that took a lot for you to admit, didn't it?" she quipped, placidly. If he was going to make an attempt to get along, then so would she.

"You have no idea," he responded with deep sigh, smiling slightly at hearing her return to sit in her chair.

"But everyone feared you," she continued amicably.

"Of course they fear me," he replied matter of factly, looking over at her. "I am the most powerful being in the entire kingdom. Well, second to the Labyrinth, of course," he added in a respectful tone.

"Are there others like you?"

"Why?" he asked pleasantly, though his eyes hardened slightly at her question. "Looking for a basis of comparison, are we?"

She heard the sharp edge his tone had taken, actually '_felt_' a surge of possessiveness from him. "Having you to deal with is more than enough for me, Jareth," she stated airily, refusing to let him bait her again. "I was only curious about your background. Family, friends, others like you, that's all."

"There are no other's like me," he replied, a hint of loneliness laced his voice. "Once I became Lord of the Labyrinth, I had become something far apart from anything that I once called kin." She searched her mind for something polite to say in response to that, but came up empty. Any sort of condolence just seemed… lame. "Your compassion on my behalf overwhelms me, Sarah, but it's unnecessary."

She turned her thoughts instead towards a subject change, and blurted out the first thing that popped in her mind. "Do you like pizza?"

"I do, actually," he replied readily, just as grateful for the subject change as she was. "Can you get some?"

"I can," she stated agreeably, smiling. "As long as you promise not to use your magic while I'm gone," she chastised mildly, then in a more pleasant tone. "I need to go to town for a few things anyway, and make appearances before people wonder what's wrong with me."

"Then I'll rest quietly while you're gone," he stated appeasingly, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

"You make it hard to believe anything you say, you realize that, don't you?" she accused playfully, though she really wasn't kidding.

"I strive for it," he grinned, his eyes alit with mischief for the first time since his accident.


	5. Chapter 5

A Dreamer's Heart ~ Chapter Five

Jareth had done as promised and rested peacefully in Sarah's absence, while magically bringing several of her books to his side for reading. He had soon discovered a repetitious pattern in the 'novels', and had found great insight within the pages of her fantasies, giving him greater perspective of what she expected of him, and what she deemed a 'dream come true'.

Apparently, after becoming wounded, he had unwittingly followed her scripts almost to the letter by refusing to rest and being obstinate to gain his own feet, hurting himself further. This enabled Sarah to coddle him in a seemingly reluctant manner while giving her the opportunity to be close to him at all times, which according to the novels, is exactly where she wanted to be. He glanced over towards the chair that she had insisted on moving into her bedroom… to 'keep an eye on him' she had stated. He grinned with satisfaction while contemplating how to progress to the next step, getting her to come closer yet.

"Dink," he called in an even tone. The goblin appeared by the side of the bed instantly. "Would you consider me untouchable?"

"I not touch King!" Dink replied defensively, fearfully taking a step backwards.

Jareth regarded his subject thoughtfully. "Of course not," he stated pleasantly, then waved his hand nonchalantly. "Leave me." The goblin disappeared with a sigh of relief. Jareth frowned as he settled back to the pillows on the bed. He knew he was formidable, at best, but he could also be fun. He liked to dance and sing, he was known for being a prankster, and loved practical jokes. He wasn't always so stoic and fearsome… or was he?

He'd often summon the Fiery's into the castle to stir things up when it got too boring, or would let a hundred fairies loose in the city to give the goblins a buzz as they scattered to try and catch the things. But, perhaps he was more formidable than he had thought, so much so that she actually feared to get too close to him. '_Which is why she prefers being near me when I'm unconscious, or too weak to even stand_,' he surmised to himself thin lipped.

He magically brought another novel to his hands, skimming the pages with immortal quickness. With a sigh, he placed the finished book on his lap, closing his eyes with contemplation. He didn't deem himself all that different from the men in these stories. They were formidable, feared, usually of high status socially, and risked everything to keep the women they fell in love with. Things he had already done.

'_But did she understand that at such a young age?_' he mused internally. '_No, I don't think she did._' He opened his eyes, lifting the book from his lap to stare at the front cover while letting all the information he had read flow through his mind. The men in these novels, books that Sarah submerged herself into, never gave their women a chance for escape. They held onto their power over them with steel reserve, something he had mistakenly given up. He lost his power over her by allowing her to speak her words. But, none the less, he was being given a second chance, and he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

Magically putting the book back upon its shelf in the den, he rolled to his side while in deep thought, then smirked with satisfaction as he formulated a plan in his mind. A plan that, ironically, was right out of a book, or several of them as a matter of fact.

"Goblins!" Sarah's voice filtered through her home with a commanding tone. Dink was instantly standing before her. "Help me carry the groceries in from my jeep," she dictated, walking past him to the kitchen laden with three bags of food.

"Groceries?" Dink asked, turning to follow her with his eyes. "What is groceries?"

"It's food, Dink," she explained patiently from over her shoulder. "All the stuff in the jeep that I just bought."

"Okay, Lady!" he agreed readily with understanding, and magically disappeared.

Within a minute the four goblins began magically popping in and out of the kitchen, each carrying an item from the bags in her jeep. They placed them upon the table or the counter before disappearing again. Sarah glanced over her shoulder as she placed perishables in the fridge to notice that they brought one thing at a time inside instead of the entire bags. Shrugging, she let them do their task their way. As long as everything was brought inside, she didn't care how they did it.

Busying herself with the frozen foods, it took a minute for Sarah to realize that her spare tire from the back of the jeep was sitting on the floor off to one side. "Dink!" The goblin popped up in front of her holding a floor mat to look at her questioningly. Crumb and Stink popped in holding a crow bar and her tire jack. "Oh, no," she uttered under breath. "Those things stay in the jeep," she explained calmly. "I only want the things that were inside the bags."

"Ohhh," they voiced as one with understanding just as Zip popped in with the jeep's battery in his little hands.

"I got it!" he beamed proudly, grunting under the weight of it.

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose with exasperation. "Put it back," she stated, reigning in her temper. After all, they didn't know that she had only wanted the groceries. "Put everything that was not in a bag back exactly how you found it."

The goblins looked at each other in confusion, shrugged, then disappeared. They returned several times to remove the vehicle's tools and accessories from the kitchen while Sarah continued to put the food away. After clearing the table and countertop, she walked out to her jeep to make sure all the food had been brought in, and to make sure that the goblins had put it back together correctly. It had started right up when she turned the key in the ignition. Smiling with satisfaction, she turned it off again, and headed back into the house.

"Leave," she commanded the goblins a few minutes later as she strode into her bedroom. "There's food on the table for you to eat." They disappeared without complaint.

She frowned slightly when her eyes fell upon Jareth. He seemed slightly paler than she remembered him being when she had left for the store. "What were you doing while I was gone?" she asked as nonchalantly as possible, placing the plate with two slices of still warm pizza on the chest at the foot of her bed.

Jareth detected the caution in her tone when she questioned him, and smirked inwardly as he delicately shifted himself into a sitting position. "I was resting," he replied easily. "Just as I promised."

She couldn't stop her eyes from roving appreciatively over his bare chest, down his midriff, to end her perusal at his hips where the border of the sheet rested. Tearing her gaze away she picked up the plate and handed it to him.

"Sorry it's not hot anymore, but I had to get the food put away first." She mumbled before scurrying away from him. "Then, your goblins tried to dismantle my jeep."

"It's heated enough," Jareth commented, picking up a slice. He could sense the heated energy she emanated as she busied herself with mundane things around her room, sneaking covert glances in his direction to stare at the sheet that rested precariously over his hips. "You're not going to join me?"

"Join you?" she questioned too quickly, her brows arched high on her forehead as she stopped to stare at him directly.

"To eat," he elaborated, lifting the slice in his hand slightly higher as emphasis before taking another bite from it. The edge of the sheet was like a magnet to her eyes, drawing her apt attention as he leaned slightly forward to bite into the slice without dripping anything on himself. Having a mouthful of pizza, Jareth returned his focus to Sarah, chewing thoughtfully as he watched her eyes darken while she stared at him. "Is something wrong?" he asked lightly after swallowing.

Her eyes glided from his stomach, up his chest, and met his gaze directly. "No," she answered uncomfortably, turning away from him. "I have some things I need to do, then I'll be able to sit with you for a while."

"Take your time," he called after her as she nearly bolted from the room. A satisfied grin played upon his lips before taking another bite of his pizza. '_And she didn't even ask where my clothes were_,' he thought, feeling pleased with himself. '_Just as it was written in her books_.'

XxXxX

Returning to the kitchen, Sarah found the goblins playing a game of scrabble, having found the board game in a closet. Curious, she leaned over the table between Dink and Crumb to see that none of their 'words' made sense, just letters randomly put on the board to look like words. Humoring them, she gave Dink a fond pat on the back, and busied herself at the counter.

She didn't see the reverent grin the goblin bestowed in her direction as she collected a few small bowls from the cabinet, and the half gallon container of ice cream from the freezer. Spooning some into each bowl, she freely let her mind wander. She was really confused as far as Jareth was concerned, and felt as though she should try to avoid him to clear her head, and get her emotions back in check. But, every time she attempted to give herself a few hours away from him,, he went and did something rash that required her to be right by his side again.

And as soon as she got close to him all she wanted to do was get closer. It felt so right to be near him, to watch how his eyes subtly changed hues whenever he looked at her, the constant thrill that ran up her spine at the sound of his voice. And when he was being authoritive… well, that was simply her undoing. She couldn't even pretend indifference when he used that particular tone of voice, it simply consumed her entire being with heated intensity.

But, he wasn't here to stay, he would leave soon, and he made no notion whatsoever that he wanted to take her back with him. She felt that age old stab of loneliness at the thought of him leaving, but that was how it had to be. She could at least be friendly towards him, and enjoy his company in the short amount of time she had left with him. Shrugging off the depressing thoughts, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and lifted her chin.

"Here," she stated to the goblins, placing two bowls on the table, each in front of a goblin. "This, is ice cream," she defined pointedly, then turned to the counter to get the other two bowls, and some spoons. "I'll be in my room with King. Enjoy your ice cream, and try to behave," she requested in a mild, pleading tone. "Oh, and there's cookies on the counter if you want some."

"Okay," Dink answered, watching Lady leave the kitchen with her hands full to take to her room. Sarah never noticed the melancholy that had settled over of the goblins while she was in her own thoughts.

Making her way back to her room with two bowls of ice cream, and a chess game, she handed Jareth his ice cream before setting up a folding table at the side of the bed. She lugged her recliner chair closer to the bed while Jareth set up the game for them to play. Seating herself in her chair, Sarah wolfed down her iced cream as Jareth proceeded to beat her at chess within five moves.

"Your goblins are actually behaving themselves for once," she commented, her voice hinting of fondness for the little creatures, while mentally blaming her lose on the distraction of his bared skin. "They're in the kitchen pretending to play scrabble."

"They love playing scrabble," Jareth remarked, looking up at her as she reset the board. "Why would you say they pretend to play?"

"Because they can't spell," she laughed warmly. "They're just taking turns putting random letters on the board."

"Perhaps they're using goblin words," Jareth remarked, moving his first piece as winner of the last game.

"Goblin words?" she quipped curiously.

"Yes, goblin words," he reiterated in a relaxed voice. "You never found it strange that every creature in my kingdom spoke your language?"

"No, that never occurred to me," she admitted, suddenly feeling insignificant for something that had happened so long ago. "I just thought… actually, I never thought about that at all."

"Took it for granted, did you?" he asked with a smirk and a chuckle.

"Obviously, if I'm sitting here admitting that I never thought about it," she replied curtly.

He smirked self righteously. "It's your move."

"Why bother," she stated disgruntled, leaning her back against the cushion of her chair, glaring at the chess board. "You're only going to kick my ass again anyway."

"Then forfeit," he dictated, his eyes gleaming with challenge. He found it amusing how she covered her embarrassment with ire. How she became flustered and stubborn at the same time.

"Now, you know I can't do that," she stated indignantly, leaning forward once more. "This game ain't over until I'm completely cornered with no more options."

"A fight to the bitter end," he remarked, smiling with anticipation. "Make your move, Sarah."

The game was over three moves later when Jareth made checkmate. He watched her with amusement as she refused to believe that she had lost so quickly, and checked every piece on the board for some possible way out of her predicament.

"You're not going to find another move," he taunted with a chuckle. "You've lost."

She glared at him with disgruntlement. "A real gentleman would have let me win," she proposed, crossing her arms indignantly.

"I am not a gentleman," he countered, still amused. "I am a king, and I lose to no one." He realized his blunder as soon as the words left his lips, and her eyes hardened with conviction. "Don't say it!" he proclaimed quickly, pointing at her physically. "I said it in jest," he added more casually, lowering his hand. "Why must every discussion with you become a conflict?"

"Because you wouldn't accept anything less," she smirked at him good humouredly. "You expect me to defy you at every turn and argue any point you may have. It just seems fitting to live up to your expectations, your Majesty."

He regarded her thoughtfully, a playful expression still etched upon his elegant features. "I have a feeling that you enjoy living up to my expectations, perhaps just a little too much."

"Perhaps I do," she replied, smiling slyly at him as she began to reset the chess board. "Would you care to show me how to play this damn game with at least a fighting chance of beating you?"

He smiled fully, shifting more comfortably against the pillows. "Perhaps, though just enough to give you a fair chance," he answered amicably.

"A '_fair_' chance?" she questioned, her brows rising high over her eyes. Jareth's expression slowly became guarded, impassive, as she regarded him skeptically. Then she smiled, her eyes shining with amusement. "You're on, Goblin King," she announced in a pleasant tone. "I'll take whatever fair chances I can get out of you."

He relaxed visibly, though she hadn't seemed to notice his tension in the first place. She was becoming more at ease around him, seemingly unaware of her effect on him at any given moment. He briefly wondered how she was able to ignore his temperament so adeptly when one of the gifts he had given her was to make her aware of exactly that.

From the moment he'd become aware of her, so many years ago, he had wanted her to sense within him what he couldn't covey openly. This gift also enabled him, and his subjects, to sense her most dominant emotions as well. It was a bond between her and his kingdom to a degree. Disregarding her ignorance towards her gifts at the moment, he returned her pleasant smile and helped to reset the chess board.

XxXxX

"Eh-hem." The sound of someone clearing their throat came from the doorway.

"What is it, Dink?" Both Sarah and Jareth asked simultaneously, not looking up from the chess board until they both spoke at the same time, and then it was to look at each other.

"Dink get hurt," he stated remorsefully from the doorway.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder to look at the goblin, the question, 'what happened?' on the tip of her tongue until she saw him holding his right hand swathed in a kitchen towel covered in goblin blood. "Oh my god, Dink!" she exclaimed, jumping from the chair to drop to her knees in front of the hurt creature. "What happened? What did you do? Is all this ick your blood?" she questioned in quick succession.

"Dink not know what happen. I drop cookie down drain and put hand in to get it. It make growling noises and bit me!"

"Oh my god," she fretted once more, holding the swathing wrapped hand between both of hers as she turned fearful eyes toward Jareth. "The garbage disposal," she stated, paling dramatically. "I didn't think… oh no, Jareth… he stuck his hand in the…" She couldn't even finish her statement she was so distraught. '_What if he lost a finger? What if his whole hand was missing?_' She felt faint. Very, very faint.

Jareth slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed, seemingly nonplussed about the whole situation. "Come, Dink, let me see what you've done to yourself," he commanded in a pleasant tone.

The goblin stepped around Sarah and lumbered over to his king, holding his swathed hand up in the air for the king to see.

"Well," Jareth breathed unsurprised. "That is definitely goblin blood, and a lot of it." He spared a brief glance towards Sarah at the choked sound that escaped her throat. She looked on with wide, horrified eyes, covering her mouth with her hand as she remained kneeling on the floor with her body half twisted to watch in dreadful anticipation of what Jareth might find.

Jareth peeled back the layers of the wrapped towel until he found the tiny hand within, then frowned. "Held onto your cookie, I see." Dink nodded, watching his king's face for his angry expression. "How many fingers did you have, Dink?" he asked casually. "Three or four?"

"Dink have four fingers," he answered in a small voice.

"Ah. I'll have to fix that, then."

"Please tell me you're kidding," Sarah begged from across the room feeling as though she were going to faint. It was her fault. The poor little goblin lost his fingers because of her carelessness. She should have thought to disconnect the garbage disposal knowing that the goblins were like children and might stick their hands down the hole.

"No, actually I'm not," Jareth announced evenly, lifting his head to meet her gaze. "Why so concerned, Sarah? It's nothing a little magic can't fix."

He put his focus to the goblin's hand once more, placing his elegant fingered hand over the mangled one, then closed his eyes. Sarah watched with rapt attention, not even sure when she had gotten to her feet, and walked closer as a small glow of green light surrounded their hands. Jareth opened his eyes and took a deep waking breath, taking hold of Dinks wrist to inspect his handy work. "There, all fixed."

Dink smiled broadly, wiggling his fingers in Jareth's face to show that all four of them worked just fine. "Thank you, King!" he praised before lumbering out of the room, waving his hand towards Sarah as he left.

"That's why you're not getting stronger," Sarah concluded, stepping closer to the bed as Jareth laid back to the pillows, obviously exhausted from healing Dink's hand. "You've been healing them when they get hurt, and cleaning up after them behind my back," she added as the kitchen towel was suddenly clean and ready to use again.

"Yes, well," he voiced nonchalantly in a strained voice. "I can't let them lose limbs and upset our very gracious hostess, now can I?"

"No," she agreed, stressing her voice. "But, you could have told me they were getting hurt like this. I can child proof the house, you know, make it safer for them." She put her hand on her hips to stare down at him incredulously. "And you told me that you weren't using your magic!"

He diverted his gaze to stare unseeingly at the wall with downcast eyes. "I didn't want you to become upset with them, and send them home." He turned his face to meet her eyes. "It would simply break their little hearts to be away from me."

Sarah's arms fell slack against her sides, as did the expression on her face. "Do you think I'd be that mean to make them stay away from you just to keep a clean house?"

"The thought had occurred me, yes." He took a labored breath, his lids growing heavy over his eyes.

She sat numbly on the edge of the bed next to his legs, staring blankly at the floor. "I've really become something horrible, haven't I?" she asked, more so rhetorically on her own behalf since Jareth was slipping into a light slumber. She glanced over at him when he hadn't responded, and found him breathing easy with his eyes closed.

She fixed the sheet to cover him better, raising it higher over his waist. Then, stretching out her arm she scooped a lock of his long hair from the pillow, allowing it to slowly slip through her fingers before letting it rest over his shoulder. Her eyes roved over his chest, outlining his sculpted muscles appreciatively.

"Jareth?" she whispered softly, wondering if he truly was asleep or just resting as she'd found out he often does. He gave no response whatsoever. Lowering her hand to the center of his chest, she frowned slightly, being reminded that she had removed his medallion, and he hadn't asked about it upon his awakening.

Keeping her feet rooted in place, she bent over to the night stand next to the bed, and took his pendant from the drawer before reseating herself. She looked it over intently, with more than a little curiosity. '_Why wouldn't he ask about this?_'

Glancing over at him once more, she took hold of his right hand and placed the medallion in his palm, folding his fingers over it before resting it upon his stomach. "That way you'll have it when you wake up again," she stated in a soft, whispered voice. With one last caress to his face, she stood up and moved the table with the game on it out of the way, then scooted her chair back to where it had been earlier. With one last glance in his direction, she flicked off the light and headed towards the den to sleep on the couch.

Jareth cracked his eyes open into slits after she had turned off the light and walked down the hallway, raising his hand in the air a few inches to gaze upon his medallion. He had hoped that she wouldn't remember the artifact quite so soon. he wanted to waste as much time as he possible catering to her desire for him to remain in a weakened state. His medallion, however, would see to it that his magic would be fully restored within a very short time, by morning if he held it throughout the night.

Rolling to his side, he opened the drawer of the nightstand and placed it back inside. Resettling himself on the mattress, he folded his hands behind his head while contemplating how he could get Sarah to remain in the room with him during the night. Her fondness of touching him while his eyes were closed had seemingly becoming addictive, and he looked forward to her touch as sure as she took advantage of every opportunity she thought she could get away with.

But, Jareth knew that things would change very quickly now that she thought he was exhausting his magic by healing and cleaning up after his goblins. '_Cleaning after my goblins,' _he thought with dismay. '_She has got to be daft_.' He breathed deeply, thinking back upon her novels to a possible solution to his dilemma. '_Fever was always a good excuse to keep the female close at hand_,' he mulled in his mind. '_However, I don't possess a fever_.' Then a thought came to him, and he smiled wickedly in the dark. '_But I could develop one very easily_.'

"Dink," he summoned barely audibly, knowing the goblin was magically by his side instantly. "Return home and bring me a piece of fairy leaf, a very small piece," he dictated.

The goblin gasped in horrified shock at the command. "Why King want to poison Lady?"

"It's not for the lady, now go." Within the span of three even breaths Dink returned to his king's side holding a small twig of fairy leaf. "When she asks you what has happened to me," Jareth explained, taking the leaf from his subject. "You tell her you don't know."

"Yes, King," Dink replied in an obedient tone.

XxXxX

Sarah awoke the next morning, rolling from the couch to stretch and try to get her stiff muscles back in alignment before sleepily shuffling her feet into the kitchen. Pausing in the doorway, she stared at the somber goblins that sat quietly around the table like children attending detention. "What happened?" she asked, her defenses instantly on guard.

"King not look so good." Dink answered, the others looking up at her gloomily.

Sarah was out of the room and down the hallway as fast as her feet could carry her. Reaching her bedroom, she had to grab the door frame to stop herself from barging in at a full run. "What happened?" she asked, seeing a sheen of perspiration on his chest, arms, and face as she walked closer to the bed. He met her with eyes so pale that they were almost colorless.

"I'm not sure," he told her. "I trust you placed my medallion in my hand?" She nodded, noticing that it was not within sight. "I'm not strong enough to wear it, Sarah. I believe it had an adverse effect on me during the night."

"Oh no," she voiced, feeling horrible and guilty for hurting him when all she had intended was to help. "I'm sorry, I thought it would help you heal faster."

'_You have no idea how right you are_,' he thought before answering aloud. "It normally would, but I'm not in my own kingdom. There's no magic here for it to draw upon, so it took the magic from me instead."

"Oh no," she whispered faintly, moving close to the side of the bed. Placing her hand over his forehead, she gasped at how hot he felt. "Oh my god, you're burning up. What am I supposed to do? Can you have aspirin? How about onions? Or I could…"

"Sarah," he interrupted her panicked spiel. "It will pass in a short time." He paused then continued with a mischievous grin. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear you wanted me to remain at your mercy in a weakened state."

"That's not funny, Jareth," she chastised in a worried voice. "I would never purposely hurt you just to keep you with me."

"Then, you admit to wanting me to remain with you," he taunted in a conniving tone.

"That's not what I meant," she replied flustered, shaking her head at being tricked to admitting such a thing. "What do you use in your world for fevers?"

"Magic," he stated simply with a shrug.

"Dink!" The little goblin appeared by her side, already looking somewhat nervous, wringing his hands before him. "Use your magic to heal the King," she commanded him in an authoritive tone. "Call as many goblins as you need to be strong enough."

Dink backed away from the bed, fretting with his fingers in front of him, even more so at the incredulous expression on his king's face at the idea. "Dink don't know how to heal King," he mumbled in a humbled voice, bowing his head low.

"Then get someone who can!" she spat at the poor creature who began to physically tremble with fear.

"Sarah," Jareth called softly. "I'm the highest power in the labyrinth, none of my subjects are capable of using magic for or against me directly. They simply aren't powerful enough." He met Dink's fearful gaze. "Be gone."

Dink vanished before Sarah could even turn her head to say anything to him. Placing her hands on her hips she directed her worried ire towards the king himself. "They have to be strong enough in greater numbers," she argued. "What do you do when you are sick or wounded?"

"I am immune to illness," he replied, closing his eyes with weariness. He hadn't considered her adamancy to have him healed magically. With a long deep breath he opened his eyes to look up at her. "I need some water, my Lady."

"Water," she repeated dumbly. "Oh damn, of course. I'll be right back."

Jareth didn't feel as pleased with himself as he had anticipated for causing her upset. She was absolutely frantic on his behalf. The fear and panic he aw inher eyes sent a stab of guilt through his heart like he'd never experienced before. Reaching beneath his rear he pulled out the tiny leaf to stare at it thoughtfully. She would find out, eventually, and when she did, she would be furious as all hell. '_It would be my fate that she'd find out after developing some power of her own._' Knowing that wouldn't bode well on his behalf at all, he made a decision just as she came into sight.

She returned breathless with a tall glass of clear chilled water, and sat beside him on the edge of the mattress. She held the glass out for him only to draw it back when he raised a hand with a small green leaf held between his fingers.

"What's that?" she asked, taking it when he extended his hand out to her.

"It's fairy leaf," he answered, dropping his hand once she had hold of the plant. "It's poisonous, though more so towards me." Sarah met his gaze with startled, fearful eyes, then looked back at the tiny thing between her fingers again. "Worry not, it won't harm you in its current state."

"Where did it come from? Why do you have it? How poisonous is it?" she bombarded him with questions in quick secession, then leveled her gaze upon him somberly. "What have you done?"

He diverted his gaze briefly, feeling horrible for trying to deceive her in such a manner after all she had done to spare him his life. "It grows wild in my kingdom," he answered somberly. "It's only poisonous to you if you ingest it. To me, however, all I have to do is touch it. It will cause a fever within my body for a small amount of time until my magic rids it's effect from my body." He lifted his eyes, as well as his chin, with arrogance as he looked at her. "It was my attempt to have you remain close to me."

She stared at him for the longest time as his words processed through her mind, then stared down at the tiny leaf in her hand. "You poisoned yourself," she stated with uncertainty. "To make me stay close to you."

"Yes. I simply miscalculated your unwavering stubbornness to have your own way."

"Are you insane?!" she yelled at the top of her voice unexpectedly, jumping to her feet while waving the plant in front of his face near his nose. "This is '_poison_', Jareth! '_Poison!_'"

"Yes, I've already stated that much," he replied in a calm though slightly surprised tone.

With a guttural growl of frustration in her throat, she threw the tiny leaf at him, slammed the glass down on the end table, then stormed from the room.

"Well, that didn't quite go as I had planned," he remarked softly to himself, flicking the offensive plant to the floor with a finger.

XxXxX

"You're goblins are having some sort of rebellion," Sarah informed Jareth a short while later, leaning in the doorway to her room with her arms folded in front of her. "and locked themselves in my bathroom."

"They're only trying to help," he replied in a deep, relaxed voice.

He lay on his back with his arm covering his face to block out the bright ceiling light while he contemplated at how they constantly battled wits with each other. He was certain that she favored being close to him, though every attempt he'd made so far to keep her near she balked and hurried out of the room. Yet she would be right by his side at the first sign of something being wrong.

"Help how? I need to use my bathroom!"

"They know I want you to remain in my company, and are simply trying to force you to come to me for help." He lifted his arm, opened his eyes, and tilted his head over and back to glance half upside down at her. "They actually do think highly of you, you realize, or they would behave much more destructively."

"Of course they think highly of me," she quipped disgruntled. "They have a king who sends them to the bog whenever you're upset with them. Whereas, I just yell at them a lot."

A grin started to form on his lips at the memory of her and Hoggle falling into the bog of eternal stench, just because she had…. '_kissed another_,' his mind finished thinking. His grin faded as a surge of jealousy shot through his veins like liquid fire. Even after all these years the image of her bestowing that scab with affection still greatly agitated him.

"What was that?" she asked cautiously, slowly pushing from the door jam to step further in the room, and face him fully. "I just felt a rush of heat flash through my entire body, and it wasn't from me." The heated feeling she felt was alien to her, though she knew it came from Jareth, she wasn't sure of what it meant.

'_Oh dear_,' he thought, realizing that she had sensed his wayward emotion. "That," he answered nonchalantly. "Would be you using a gift you claim not to have."

"But, what was it?" she asked again, stepping closer. "What did you do?"

"Surely you know," he prompted, watching her closely. She shook her head in confusion. "I remembered an unpleasant moment from my past," he informed her casually. "From '_our_' past, actually, that I still find unsettling."

"I've never felt anything like that before," she admitted, looking at him curiously.

"Really?" he questioned, sitting up further in the bed, unable to believe she had never experienced jealousy before. "Never?" But, the proof was clearly written in her expression, in the way her eyes searched his for answers. He laid back upon the pillows, watching her with contemplation. He was beginning to understand how she was able to deny her gifts thus far, she simply assumed the emotions she felt from others were her own. '_No wonder she was a bramble of emotions at any given time_,' he thought with more clarity.

"No, never," she answered with contemplative confusion. "What where you thinking about? Was that…" she paused, dropping her gaze to somewhere below eye contact. "Is that what you felt when I reached the castle?"

"No, I felt this emotion on your behalf long before you ever reached the castle." He rested his head back comfortably and closed his eyes again. "I'm exhausted, Sarah, let me rest."

She stared at him in confusion for the longest time, trying to gauge what he could have possibly thought of to make him feel such an emotion. The liquid heat that had coursed momentarily through her entire being had been possessive, all consuming, and with no recourse. It quite literally had taken her breath away.

She took a step back from the bed, keeping her gaze upon him as she made her way to the doorway. She'd never felt such a strong emotion, and he had experienced it on her behalf. "What did you think of, Jareth?" she asked in a quiet voice. She had to know what feeling would cause something like that towards her. "What do you feel towards me that is so strong?"

He heard the uncertainty in her voice, noticed how she stepped back from him with uneasy steps. Of course she would be afraid if she'd never felt jealousy before. But, should he tell her the truth, was the foremost question in his mind. To admit that he was still jealous at the thought of her showing affection to anyone but himself would surely have him out on the doorstep as fast as she could drag him there herself. On the other hand, if he were truthful, perhaps it would draw her closer, fill that void of loneliness he constantly felt within her. Let her know how much he wanted her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her trembling voice conveying how upset she'd become during his thoughtful silence. "I didn't realize that you hated me so much." She had concluded in her own mind. Rage, or hatred, were the only emotions she thought of that would be that strong, that heated, and all consuming.

With swift accuracy Jareth threw back the blanket and rose from the bed, magically covering his nakedness with one of his shirts and a pair of his breeches as he gained his feet. "You are the most exasperating female I've ever met, Sarah," he declared in a strong, firm voice as he stepped towards her. His eyes held hers with a mystical light that was natural to him.

"You exhaust me as much now as you have ever done," he stated in the same tone. "You want me to remain weak so you feel safe to be near me, and I've done that… for you. It pleases you to gaze upon me, so I have disregarded wearing any clothing. Your insatiable desire to touch me had me purposely poison myself, twice, for your convenience. And after all my sacrifices, you think I hate you."

"How are you standing?" she asked stupefied, stepping back from him as he advanced upon her. Everything he was telling her just slipped to some corner of her mind for the moment, choosing to focus on the impertinently obvious. "I thought you were…" her mind searched frantically for answers as he drew closer, his pace forward quicker than her retreating steps. Then, she noticed his medallion around his neck, hanging valiantly from its chain to rest where it seemed to belong at his chest. "This whole thing was a fake," she wrongly surmised. "You were never hurt, were you?" she asked meeting his steady gaze, her heart feeling like it was being torn to shreds for being fooled so completely.

Her mind became hazy, a numbness settled over her at the thought that he'd been toying with her this entire time. All the sympathy she felt for him, the fantasies he'd instigated, all the touching he encouraged, the kind words he'd spoken, was all just an elaborate trick to gain control over her once more.

He felt her confusion, her humiliation, her despair of being mislead. "Oh, I assure you that the condition you found me in, was completely real, and dire." He reiterated in a patient tone. "I've never been as wounded as that in my entire existence." He stopped to stand within arms reach of her.

"Why won't you love me?" he asked pleadingly. "I feel it within you, I hear your tears as you lie asleep. I can give you everything you desire and more than you could dream of."

"It's not real, Jareth," she answered, shaking her head with tears threatening to spill over. "What you think I feel for you is only a fantasy. A fantasy born in the mind of a little girl who dreamed of castles and a king with magic, who loved me as though I were someone special." He tears spilled of their own accord. "I'm nothing special, Jareth. I can't have my dreams when they're not real."

He stood to his full height, an impassive expression settled on his face, his shoulders squared indignantly. ""I assure you, my Lady," he stated suavely, stepping closer. "That not only are your feelings real, but I am as well."

"That's not what I meant, I…" A surprised gasp escaped her as he took her up in his arms without warning. He pulled her against his chest, her hands went instinctively to his shoulders, while he dipped his head down to hers to claim her mouth with his lips.

She protested mutely from the shock of his actions, her fingers splaying wide over his shoulders, her body rigid and unresponsive. He moved his lips seductively over hers, his tongue teasing and taunting for her to respond while a hand slipped up her back to the back of her head to bury in her long hair.

Sarah's eyes slipped closed, her second protest sounding more like a moan of consent than an argument. Jareth shifted his stance to draw her in closer, she opened her mouth under his gentle persuasion, while he deepened his kiss. He felt her body tremble slightly, as though with a chill, as her arms snaked around his neck and shoulders.

He broke his claim over her mouth, pulling his head back slightly to draw a breath, his mouth opened to say something when she grabbed both sides of his head and pulled him back to meet her lips again. She fully pressed herself up against him, slipping her fingers into his hair while her tongue sought his to finish what he'd started.

He entire being came alive at the feel of him against her, his hands at her back, her neck, her hair as she consumed the very scent of him with her senses, the taste of him with deep urgent kisses. She missed this kind of attention from another so badly, but this was different, he woke a desire within her that was ruled with complete abandon. She couldn't' touch him enough as her hands roved over him sporadically.

Lifting a knee, she wrapped a leg around him, sighing deeply when he held her tightly against his body with a hand on her rump. Needing air, she threw her head backwards, gasping a the feel of his teeth, his lips, and tongue at her throat and neck. She clung to him by the shoulders, her mind a complete blank except for what she was feeling, what he was making her feel. '_It's magic_,' her mind told her. "I don't care," she whispered in a breathless reply.

Her comment gave him a minute pause, pulling back to heatedly gaze down upon her flushed face. the feelings he was sensing from her matched his own, the wanting, the desire that demanded to be sated. But her comment gave him pause none the less. If she had any doubt, no matter how small, he must respect it. For once he took her to him completely, he would never let her go, whether she felt the same or not.

"Sarah," he breathed, pulling his head up and back, his hands taking hold of her wrists to free himself of her dire hold of him. "What don' t you care about?" She stared blankly up at him, her mind obviously not working through the haze of her arousal. Her eyes were darker than he'd ever seen them before, her skin flushed with desire, her breaths coming out as short pants.

She pulled her hands free from his loose grasp only to reach out for him again. "I want this," she breathed in a rush, slipping one hand behind his neck, her other around his waist and up his back. she tried to return her lips to his only for him to tilt his head back and slightly to the side. Undeterred, she began to kiss and gently bite at his neck instead.

"Sarah," he attempted to gain her attention again, though let her continue her gentle assault to his neck. "Stop, think for a moment."

"No," she replied, taking his earlobe between her teeth seductively. "I want this," she stated decidedly, switching to the other side of his neck, brushing herself across his body as she shifted. "I want your hands on me," she told him between kissed along his neck. "I want your lips, I want… magic."

He couldn't deny her, or himself, any longer and dipped his head low to her shoulder to return the attention to her neck as well. She gasped and breathed heavily, her head fell backwards, completely giving in to the pleasures he provoked. "Yes," she breathed sultrily, reveling in the feel of his lips upon her skin.

He refused to hold back any longer and gathered her up in his arms to carry her to the bed. Once upon the mattress, he positioned himself over her, relieving both of them of their clothing with his magic. His lips no sooner returned to her neck when her hands caressed down the length of his back, her knees bent to enclose him within her passionate embrace.

There was no turning back from this point for either of them as he moved over her, then settled back down, her hands and body guided him to where she wanted him. Jareth's eyes slipped closed with the feeling of euphoria. It had been too long since he'd shared intimacies with another. Her soft warmth enveloped him not just physically, but surrounded his entire being with the promise of rapture.

She whispered his name, her lips and tongue moving along his jaw until he bent his head to face her. Their lips met with a tenderness that was surprising considering the heated intensity of their desires. Languidly their lips sought and explored, their tongues dueled and tasted, licking and nipping sensitive skin with gentle teeth.

He lifted her lower half as he quickened his rhythm, her arms held him close by his shoulders. Neither of them spoke, neither of them even thought to speak, but rode the waves of desire until ecstasy blinded them of everything except fulfillment.

XxXxX

Four little goblins sat in a circle in the middle of the bathroom floor with glassy eyes and goofy grins on their faces.

"See, I tell you Lady like touchy-touchy with King," Dink stated.

"King like touchy-touchy with Lady, too," Crumb returned with a dumb, lopsided smile.

"I like dizzy feeling," Zip murmured, swaying slightly where he sat, sharing the same expression as Crumb.

"I like ice cream more," Stink announced. "Let's go home and get some."

"Ice cream definitely better than King touchy-touchy," Dink stated. The others nodded in full agreement just before they all vanished into thin air.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you for being patient while I beat my muse into submission to finish this (what was suposed to have been a oneshot) story. I hope it satisfies the yearning for an ending, and I hope you enjoy! (I'm also beating up my muse to finish Curse of the Labyrinth and Awaken my Heart... I beg for just a little more patience!) ~Kat~  
(If you notice any grammar, or other errors, please PM me so I may fix them. This wasn't edited very well.)

A Dreamer's Heart ~ Chapter Six

Sarah became aware of sunlight shining on her face, and rolled to her other side with a disgruntled moan. Snuggling against the warm, sturdy body that lay by her side, she buried her face deep into the shadows of soft hair and scented skin. With one leg thrown over his possessively, and an arm draped across his chest, she breathed deeply as she fell back into a content sleep that she had never known before.

"It's nearly noon, you realize," Jareth questioned quietly before she drifted off completely, again. He wanted to cherish this blissful contentment as much as she obviously wanted, but nature had its calls, and his stomach was starting to complain for the want of food.

She mumbled something intelligible, and burrowed herself deeper against him. A pleasant smile graced his lips as he opened his eyes to look down at the mass of dark hair fanned over his chest and shoulder. "Sarah," he sing sung, twitching his shoulder under her head to jostle her a little bit. "Come, come, we must rise eventually."

Another stream of muffled speech came from her hidden lips, and, if Jareth were to try and decipher it, he would have came up with something that sounded like, '_keep your damn crystals off the floor so I don't fall on them_.' But, that wouldn't make any sense whatsoever, so the goblin king forewent trying to translate her mumblings, and simply poked her in the ribs with an index finger. Not exactly the brightest of ideas, but, it had definitely gotten her to wake up.

Sarah squealed at the odd sensation in her ribs, and sprung into motion to roll over while bolting upright simultaneously. Being close to the edge of the bed, however, she quickly found herself flailing her arms as she began to slide off the mattress. Jareth struck out an arm to pull her back against his side, safely away from the edge. "You won't have such a hard time staying in the bed once we return to my castle," he informed her with a light chuckle. "My bed is more than large enough to accommodate both of us."

"You're bed?" Sarah questioned, suddenly fully awake. "Who said I was returning to your castle?"

Jareth's spine tingled defensively at her response. Slowly removing his arm from around her, he propped himself up on one elbow. "I had assumed that you would return with me after sharing such intimacies," he replied carefully. He had assumed more than that, to be sure, but was now faced with second guessing those assumptions.

"We call it sex up here in the Aboveground, Jareth," she quipped irritably, rolling over to throw her legs over the side and leave the bed. "It doesn't mean I'm in love with you, or, that I want to be whisked away to your castle," she added, grabbing her robe from her chair, securely tying the belt at her waist.

"Doesn't it?" he questioned, his own ire firing up as he rose to a full sitting position. "You have been more than fascinated with my being here," he pointed out confidently. "Touching me whenever the chance presented itself," he added arrogantly. "Your pulse races whenever I look upon you, touch you, or so much as speak to you, which makes your attraction to me very clear."

"Attraction!" she barked back at him. "None of this is real, Jareth! It's just a bunch of emotions running amuck!" She turned away to put some space between them as he moved to leave the bed. "There's no such thing as happily ever after in the real world," she stated in a quieter voice. "No one falls in love at first sight, nothing is forever, no one loves unconditionally as you swear you are capable of doing." She turned around to face him, ignoring how her heart felt like it was being torn apart by her own words. "That only exists in fiction books."

"Does it, now?" he questioned cynically. "Why can't you believe that I can love you?"

"Because you're the one I dream of," she answered, her entire countenance breaking down. "And, in my dreams, you're perfect. You're beautiful and arousing, powerful and strong, fearful and yet kind." She paused to take an unsteady breath. "Add that with the magic you posses, and its all perfect. Too perfect to believe it's real."

"I could give you '_everything_' you desire!" he defended, magically clothing himself before advancing upon her. "You have seen what I am capable of, you know I am all of those things plus more! I will not accept your denial of me, not this time!"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But, it's not real. Your love just isn't real, it's only a fantasy that I've created like everything else you could offer me."

"You can't honestly believe that," he asked in an anguished tone.

"What I believe in doesn't exist in the real world, Jareth! Can't you see that? You have nothing real for me to hold onto!"

"Then, there is nothing more to be said," he stated in an impassive tone, and faded from her sight with his head turned to the side, and his eyes closed in defeat.

Sarah crumbled to the floor where she stood, and began balling wreaking sobs of anguish.

'_Nah, that's not love, now is it?_' her inner voice taunted.

"Shut up!" Sarah cried aloud. "Just shut the fuck up!" She buried her face in her hands, her elbows on the floor. "I never said I didn't love him! I said that he doesn't love me back! He can't… he just… can't."

XxXxX

"How DARE she deny me… again!" Jareth ranted heatedly, pacing in long, angry strides around the throne room. "Who is she to tell me what I am capable of! I am The Goblin King!" he continued to rant, throwing his arms in the air. "If I say I am in love, then I am in love, it's as simple as that!"

He honed his heated attention upon Dink, who had been returned home along with the king upon his departure from the lady's house. Jareth grabbed his faithful goblin up by the t-shirt bearing a smiley face upon it, compliments of Sarah. "It's simple, I say!" he shouted angrily, shaking the little goblin. "Why…" Jareth suddenly lost all his composure with his own unfinished question, and let Dink fall to the floor before vanishing from the throne room.

Dink looked around the room at his brothers, shaken to the core by what he felt from his king, and being shaken and dropped had nothing to do with it. "I not like that feeling from king," he told the others. They all nodded glumly.

"This all lady's fault!" Dink declared angrily, puffing up his chest while working his arms to get himself riled up. "King not happy because lady make him hurt!"

"Yeah!" the other goblins yelled in response, becoming riled along with their self chosen leader.

"What we gonna do?" Snot asked tentatively.

"We going to make lady make king happy again!" Dink announced definitively.

"Yeah!"

"How we going to do that?" Crumb asked.

"I don't know," Dink answered simply, suddenly sullen. "But, we think of something when we get there!" he declared loudly.

"Yeah!"

XxXxX

The small horde magically appeared in the hallway, little battle axes at the ready, helmets in place, to defend their king against the cruel lady who hurt him. Quietly, they stalked down the hall towards the lady's private room, only to pause with confusion at the sound of crying coming from inside. They felt the emotion as strongly as they heard her sobs as they approached the doorway with lowered weapons.

"I handle this," Dink announced quietly, stepping into the room to come up behind the lady.

Sarah suddenly felt that she wasn't alone, and lifted her head to look over her shoulder just as Dink entered her room, leaving the rest of the horde in the hallway, fully armed, she noticed.

"What do you want, Dink?" she asked, wiping at her face with the sleeve of her robe. "You need to go back home, and stay there."

"Why Lady cry?" Dink asked in a simple, curios manner, stopping to stand next to her as she knelt on the floor.

"I'm not cry…" she began to lie, then saw the determined set of Dink's little jaw. How his eyes narrowed at her knowingly. She huffed a half laugh. "It's complicated," she told him, diverting her gaze to her lap. "I didn't want him to leave. Not like that."

"You hurt king!" Dink shouted defensively, and poked Sarah in the arm with his pointed, long nailed finger while assuming his attack stance.

"Defend king!" the small horde chorused from the hallway, assuming the same stance as Dink in synchronicity.

"Ouch!" Sarah protested, rubbing the offended spot on her upper arm. Gathering her robe tighter around her, she rose to her full height. "You need to go home before he misses you, and comes back," she stated in a stronger, more authoritive tone.

"Good!" Dink countered challengingly. "Then you touchy touchy king and make him happy again!" he dictated, stabbing the air with his little spear in Sarah's direction.

"Stop calling it touchy touchy!" Sarah yelled in agitation. "It was sex! Nothing more! Just… sex!"

"What is sex?" Dink asked, trading in his defensiveness for curiosity, the rest of the horde following suit.

'_Oh boy_,' Sarah thought, pinching the bridge of her nose as the horde filed in from the hallway to sit on the floor next to Dink, giving her their rapt attention. "Sex," she began to explain in a tired, weary tone. "Is when two people, who are attracted to each other, share physical intimacies that make you feel… really… wonderful," she explained choppily as images from the night before, shared with Jareth, vividly filled her mind.

"Then lady just sex with king, and make happy," Dink concluded innocently, the others nodded in agreement.

"It's not that simple," Sarah argued patiently, turning away from them while the strings of her heart tried to hold together in their company.

"It is simple!" Dink declared heatedly, rising to his feet. "King say it simple, then it simple!"

"I wish it was that simple. But, it's not," Sarah whispered, turning around to look at the grossly, cute goblins whom she'd come to be fond of. "Go back home before he misses you," she dictated in a small voice. "I'm sure he'll never want to come here again after what I said to him. Making him come back would only be a bad idea."

"ooh…" Dink voiced in frustration, his little body shaking with pent up aggravation. "King only touchy touchy with lady!" he yelled with angry frustration. "It simple! Lady make king happy. King make lady happy!"

"It's too late, Dink," Sarah stated regretfully, her heart constricting at the mistake she obviously made. "I've lost everything, and it's my own stupid fault."

Jareth, after realizing that a few goblins in particular were missing, had magically appeared in the hallway of Sarah's home, following the magic that preceded him. He'd been prepared to confront her, if need be, for the return of his horde. He'd been prepared for her indifference with that inner cruelty fully in place within her eyes. But, he hadn't been prepared for the heartfelt regret that he not only heard, but felt, emanating from her as she argued with his loyal goblin.

Sarah suddenly felt a magical shift in the air. Raising her chin defensively, she turned her line of vision towards the hallway. "Dink, how many goblins did you bring with you?"

"That not goblins, Lady," Dink answered in a know it all, yet reverent tone. "That king."

Taking Dink's reply as a cue, Jareth stepped forward, rounding the doorway to enter the room bearing his full arrogant airs. "You were not permitted to leave the kingdom," he addressed his goblins, though his eyes locked with Sarah's upon entering the room, and remained locked thus far.

Her breath left her lungs as though she'd been punched. He'd mentioned how she always had that reaction to him, even when she was younger, but now it just seemed out of place and contrite.

"I called them here," Sarah blatantly lied, thinking she was defending the goblins from his wrath.

"Did you now?" he asked cordially, though his tone held a far more sinister emotion. He knew full well that she spoke untrue to him. Not only did her voice have a different lilt to it, but her eyes dilated, and her heart raced faster than it had when he first entered the room. "Well, if that is true, then release them back to me at once," he commanded, holding his chin evenly as he watched her with an intense gaze. He was curious as to why she wanted to delay his departure, but he refused to make it easy for her.

"They've done nothing to warrant your wrath, Jareth," she informed him sternly, holding his gaze steadily. "In fact, they have done nothing but speak in high regard of you this entire time."

"Of that I'm sure," he stated cynically. "Now, release them from your power so I may return to my non existent life."

Sarah cringed visibly at his harsh words, her bravado faltered slightly under his steady, calculated gaze. "Answer me one question, first, and then you may take your goblins home."

'_Yes, I'll forgive you_,' he thought to himself. '_Yes, I love you, and I could never refuse you anything if only to make you happy_.' Outwardly, he remained impassive and calculating, making her wait for his response with bated breath. "Ask your question," he finally dictated, diverting his gaze to remove his gloves as a pointed distraction.

"Dink seems to think that as long as we're intimate with each other, that we're both happy," she began hesitantly.

"Not a good subject to broach at the moment, I'd say," Jareth quipped. "But, what is your question?"

"I want to know if I'm the only one you've... been… intimate with."

"Not that it mattered to you, I'm sure. But, you are the first in a very, very long time. Now, if that will be all, I'll take my goblins, and leave."

"Jareth, wait," she called hurriedly. '_What if I've been wrong this entire time? What if he really does love me, has always loved me. What if those promises from long ago were truly meant? What if…'_

"I have important things to tend to, if you don't mind, what is it that you want before I simply vanish into thin air?"

'_Vanish into thin air_,' she thought with sudden realization. '_Like something in a fairy tale. Only… he's real_.'

'_Sarah!_' her internal voice snapped from the back of her mind. '_Dammit girl, stop it with the melodramatics! Give him your damn heart already, before its too late!_'

"Every time I believed someone loved me, I was hurt." She started saying in a small voice, pausing only to make sure he would listen. He slightly tilted his head to one side, waiting for her to continue, while watching the emotions of heartache fill her lovely features. "My own mother…" she continued in a choked voice, barely managing to hold back unbidden tears. "How can I expect someone to love me, when my own mother… just up and left?"

Jareth had never thought of that on Sarah's behalf. How could one believe they were wanted, needed, and loved when a parent simply walked away?

"Oh, but she loved the theatre," Sarah continued in a distant voice. "She loved the glamour, the lights, the fantasy, and she loved Jeremy like she never loved my dad. But, she obviously didn't love me." Sarah met Jareth's now sympathetic gaze with a pleading one. "How can I believe what you say, when I can't believe what I feel in my own heart is real?"

"Because I am the goblin king," he answered, stepping closer to her, cupping her cheek with a gentle palm. "And, I am not real according to your world." He placed his other hand at the side of her other cheek to gaze deeply into her eyes. "I am magic and dreams of fantasy and wonder." He caressed her bottom lip with his thumb. "I exist in a castle, in a land of make believe, far away. I am forever, and I have lost myself to a dreamer's heart."

"Mine? You… you've really fallen in love with me?"

"As deeply as you can dream possible."

She wanted to believe him so badly. "I want this dream to never end," she whispered. "I want your arms to hold me every day. I want to feel the magic when I touch you. I want to be loved, forever."

"Is that all?" he quipped with sudden lightness, grinning down at her as his eyes shone brightly with jubilation. "Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?"

She was stunned at first, blinking up at him dazedly until she realized he was merely playing with her. A broad smile graced her face, accompanied with a small laugh. "No, that's only for starters," she replied, catching her bottom lip between her teeth, her eyes gazed up at him slyly as she moved closer to lean against him fully. She ran her hands up his chest with fingers spread wide, snaking them up to his shoulders, and around to the back his neck. "I wish for a happy ending, like no one has ever written before."

He smiled down at her, sliding his hands around her body to firmly cup her behind, pulling her tightly against him. "That, my Lady, will be a piece of cake."

Dink and the other goblins watched in horrified fascination as king meshed his face against the lady's. Their expressions wrinkled grossly when the couple licked and sucked at each others tongues and mouths. And, each goblin felt the urge to vomit when the pair somehow managed to press themselves closer together, moaning and groaning in what was supposedly depicted as pleasure. Luckily, the couple magically faded from sight, leaving the goblins to breathe easier.

"We must not get caught near them too much," Dink declared to his brothers. "Touchy touchy is very disgusting." The other goblins nodded in agreement.

"But, lady not sad anymore," Stink remarked cheerfully.

"And king happy again," Snot added. Again, they all nodded in accord.

"King give lady magic that she never had," Dink stated smartly.

"I say we play in bubble water!" Crumb exclaimed suddenly. The horde cheered and cackled as one voice as they scurried down the hallway to the bathroom. "They too busy to miss us anymore!"

"Dink!" Sarah's disembodied voice rang out authoritively in the air. "Get this cow out of the king's bedroom, right now!"

Dink gasped with excited surprise. "Lady found ice cream!"

"What ice cream doing in king's room?"

"I don't know," Dink shrugged. "Come, we go get some before lady eat it all!"

The goblins cackled excitedly as they vanished from the humble cabin home that would soon be forgotten by the mortal realm.


End file.
